Darvaza gas crater, Natural gas crater in Karakum Desert, Turkmenistan.
The crater measures 70 meters across and drops 30 meters deep into the desert floor, with continuous flames rising from natural gas deposits below the surface, illuminating the sandy surroundings and generating heat that can be felt from the rim of the depression.
Soviet geologists triggered the collapse in 1971 during drilling operations for natural gas extraction, causing their equipment to fall into an underground chamber and prompting them to ignite the escaping gas to prevent its spread, which resulted in continuous burning over the following decades.
Travelers visit the site to witness the flames after sunset, often staying in yurt camps nearby where local guides prepare traditional meals and share stories about life in the Karakum Desert and its transformation into a destination for those seeking remote natural phenomena.
Access requires pre-arranged transportation through unmarked desert tracks from Ashgabat, with visitors needing to hire guides familiar with the region and carry sufficient water, food, and fuel for the approximately 160-mile (260-kilometer) journey, as no facilities exist at the location.
Canadian explorer George Kourounis became the first person to descend to the bottom in 2013, collecting soil samples amid hundreds of individual gas flames and discovering bacteria surviving under extreme conditions that scientists had not documented in such environments before.
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