YAMAL PENINSULA, RUSSIA — These huge craters were punched out of the Earth's crust from below — by huge explosions. Scientists suspect that global warming might be the culprit. Here are the details:<br /><br />The flatlands of the Siberian tundra were shaken by a violent and powerful explosion that blew out a huge crater thirty meters deep. <br /><br />CNN reports that this explosion last year was the 17th blowout crater to appear in Russia's remote Yamal and Gyda arctic peninsulas, since the first was spotted in 2013. <br /><br />The new crater also offered the first opportunity for scientists to use drones to build a 3D model of the crater. <br /><br />The 3D model largely confirmed what scientists had hypothesized: Methane gas builds in a cavity in the ice, causing a mound to appear at ground level. <br /><br />The mound grows in size before blowing out ice and other debris in an explosion, leaving behind a massive crater. <br /><br />What's still unclear is the source of the methane. It could be coming from layers deep within the Earth, or closer to the surface — or a combination of the two. <br /><br />Scientists believe that the frozen earth of Sibaria's tundra acted as a plug that kept the methane trapped. <br /><br />As the region warms up and the permafrost melts for the first time in recorded history, it's expected that methane blowouts would become more frequent.
