Door to Hell: The Burning Crater of Darvaza

Photo: John H. Bradley

That burning crater near Darvaza, Turkmenistan, is called "The Door to Hell" by the locals. Decades ago, geologists were drilling for gas when they hit an underground cavern filled with gas. The drilling rig and camp collapsed into the cave and ignited the gas, which has been burning ever since.

Photographer John H. Bradley has more amazing photos of the Darvaz Burning Gas Crater: Link - via ~~English Russia~~ Fogonazos - Thanks Louise and Josh!

Phillips Connor has a series of YouTube clip for you to see:

[YouTube Link]

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Posted on

March 25, 2008 at 2:42 pm by Alex
Category: Pictures, Travel & Places

17 Comments to "Door to Hell: The Burning Crater of Darvaza"

Matt Blank
March 25th, 2008 at 2:54 pm
This reminds me of the Centralia, PA coal fire that has been burning underneath the city since the mid 60s.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centralia%2C_Pennsylvania
You think they could come up with some sort of steam turbine to capture what is essentially geothermal heat and put it to use instead of letting it all burn off.
CheeseDuck
March 25th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
So this is the cause of global warming!
oakling
March 25th, 2008 at 3:55 pm
Wow. This is like something straight out of Doctor Who!
sikantis
March 25th, 2008 at 4:24 pm
Always and always again I’m impressed by nature! Great foto!
Onym
March 25th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
“Way to set the whole crater on fire, Pete. Hey Mike, you’re not going to BELIEVE what the new guy did.”
the man
March 25th, 2008 at 4:35 pm
“Drainage, my dear boy, DRAINAGE!!!”
Hugh
March 25th, 2008 at 6:24 pm
so why dont they cover up the hole with a huge metal lid which they could helicopter over the top, and then starve it of oxygen and then harvest the gas?
Im sure it really wouldnt be that difficult, there have been trickier feats performed with the wonders of modern engineering.
rohin
March 25th, 2008 at 7:49 pm
Nice idea Hugh. Might happen now. But the reason it hasn’t happened up till 2006 might be due to where the crater is, Turkmenistan.

Old Saparmurat wasn’t the most cleverest of leaders. Why bother investing in your country’s geothermal energy sources when you have $3 billion in your personal bank account and you’re a totalitarian dictator? The motivation just goes…
Christophe
March 25th, 2008 at 10:36 pm
Since there is gas down there, why didn’t they try to tap it further away?
unohav_1
March 26th, 2008 at 1:35 am
I THINK I see it on satellite images on Google Maps. Looks to be about 6 miles north of Darvaza, about 2 miles to the right of the division line. Appears as an orange dot.
Alex
March 26th, 2008 at 4:10 am
It’s like the flaming b*tthole of Earth. I almost wrote that in the post, but thought better of it
m
March 26th, 2008 at 7:51 am
The earth has hemroids.
Scotchdrnkr
March 26th, 2008 at 8:40 am
Well it looks like they found gas ALMOST where they expected it to be. They only problem is they hit another gas pocket where they didn’t expect. One big OOPS. Don’t you just love it when Mother Nature decides to stike back.
Kevin
March 26th, 2008 at 10:08 am
Now all someone needs to do is draw two huge hands on both sides of the hole! It would be a goats.ex from space!
Adam Stanhope
March 26th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
This was on a recent book or movie but I can’t remember which or what. Does anyone know?

My best guess is the wonderful travel-documentary Long Way Round with Ewan MacGregor and his buddy Charley Boorman, but I am far from certain.

Anyone?
Ali S.
March 26th, 2008 at 11:10 pm
That would be the most awesome bonfire ever…or a big old oven.
Mark
March 27th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
Doesnt look like gas to me, looks more like burning oil-shale or similar.

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