Mystery of hole discovered in Siberia's 'End of the World' is solved

Scientists Investigating Mysterious Giant Hole In Siberia

The mystery of an 80-metre sinkhole discovered in Siberia earlier this week has been solved.

Scientists were baffled by the giant 262ft wide hole and there was a lot of speculation about how the hole in Yamal, which translates as the 'end of the world,' was formed.

Now experts are saying that the crater was caused by rising temperatures in the area.

The hole is located 20 miles from the Bovanenkovo gas field.

According to the Daily Mail, Andrei Plekhanov, a senior researcher at the Scientific Research Center of the Arctic, said the mysterious hole was most likely the result of a "build-up of excessive pressure" underground, due to the region's changing temperatures.

He added that the enormous crater appears to be made up of 80 per cent ice which adds to the theory that it was caused by the effects of global warming. He said there are no traces of an explosion.

The discovery eliminates the possibility that a meteorite had struck the region. However, experts said that the darkening around the inner rim of the crater indicates 'severe burning' which scorched its edges.

Anna Kurchatova from the Sub-Arctic Scientific Research Centre believes it was formed by a water, salt and gas mixture igniting an underground explosion, and was the result of global warming.

Meanwhile, the Sydney Morning Herald reports that an Australian polar scientist believed it was probably a melted ice formation.

Earlier this week, Dr Chris Fogwill said: "Certainly from the images I've seen it looks like a periglacial feature, perhaps a collapsed pingo."

A pingo is a block of ice grown into a small hill in the frozen arctic ground. It can push through the earth and when it melts it leaves a crater.