In the language of the Nenets, the indigenous people of the Yamal Penensula, Yamal translates as end of the land. This is read by some as the ‘end of the world’. In this remote region of Northern Sibera a mysterious hole has opened in the ground. The hole is 260 feet wide and the depth has yet to be measured, though a large cavern beneath the hole is clearly visible.

The 700 km stretch of land is made up, primarily, of ancient permafrost. It has proven to be a rich source of ice age archeological finds dating from the last ice age. Because of its natural gas reserves, the area has recently been experiencing increased development including a pipeline, bridges and a railway.

The presence of natural gas in the region provides one possible explanation for the phenomenon. The hole appeared roughly 20 miles from the gas field of Bovanenkovo. It is possible that the release or explosion of a subterranean gas deposit caused the hole to open.

“The theory about the ignition of underground gas posits that ice and sand helped gas accumulate over time. When this mixed with salt, the explosion took place. The reason for this theory is that sometime around the last Ice Age (about 10,000 years ago) the area was still all sea, according to the Sub-Arctic Scientific Research Center’s Anna Kurchatova.” said Reuters.

According to Colin Cosier and Simon Morris of the Sydney Morning Herald, the event could also be explained by a geological phenomenon known as a pingo. Pingo or hydrolaccoliths are mounds of Earth covered ice which occur in the Arctic or subarctic. If the ice beneath the Earth melted due to global warming, it could cause the kind of cavity found in Sibaria.

“This is obviously a very extreme version of that, and if there’s been any interaction with the gas in the area, that is a question that could only be answered by going there,” said Dr Chris Fogwill, Australian polar scientist, to the Morning Herald.

As has become usual with this kind of story there are also UFO conspiracy theories flying around, but some phenomenon related to global warming seems far more likely. The sudden appearance of the massive hole is apparently not an isolated incident.

“We’re seeing much more activity in permafrost areas than we’ve seen in the historical past. A lot of this relates to this high degree of warming around these high arctic areas which are experiencing some of the highest rates of warming on earth,” said Dr. Fogwill.

The Russian Government concurs. According to a spokesperson similar phenomenon have occurred in the Yamal region in each of the past two years. Nothing further will be known about the site until researchers are able to safely get to the site and examine it.