NEW PERMAFROST FEATURE – DEP CRATER IN CENTRAL YAMAL (WEST SIBERIA, RUSIA) AS A RESPONSE TO LOCAL CLIMATE FLUCTUATIONS

Abstract

This paper is based on field data obtained during short visits to a newly formed permafrost feature in a form of relatively narrow, deep crater. Excluding impossible and improbable versions of the crater’s development, the authors conclude that it originated from warmerground temperatures and an increase in unfrozen water content, leading to an increase in pressure from gas emissions from permafrost and ground ice. This conclusion is also supported by known processes in the palaeo-geography of Yamal lakes and recent studies of gas-hydrate behavior and subsea processes in gas-bearing provinces.

Keywords

• yamal crater
• tabular ground ice
• cryopegs
• gas hydrates
• climate fluctuations
• cryolithozone
• pingo
• pockmarks