Why is there a large fire pit that burns all year round in the center of the Karakum Desert?

In the middle of the Karakum Desert in Turkmenistan, a Central Asian country, there is a large fire pit known as the "Gateway to Hell". It is more than 70 meters in diameter and more than 30 meters deep. It looks very huge. Inside There are red flames everywhere. It has been burning since 1971 and is still burning today. It has been 48 years. Even heavy rain cannot extinguish it.

This fire pit was created in the early 1970s. Soviet geological surveyors were exploring for oil and natural gas here and set up a drilling well near the pit. However, the underground drilling rig later collapsed and formed this pit. , however, since the drilling has reached the location of underground natural gas, natural gas began to emerge from the ground. Experts were worried that toxic gases might escape from the deep pits, so they thought of using "fire attack" to burn these toxic gases. However, I never expected that this fire would burn for nearly half a century.

Now it has become a famous local attraction, just a few kilometers north of Darvaza village in Ahal Region, Turkmenistan. It is located in the heart of the Karakum Desert, so it is sparsely populated, but there are still many people. The president of Turkmenistan also visited the place and said he wanted to extinguish the flames burning there, but later did nothing about it. Maybe it was because it was not easy to extinguish it and it cost a lot of money, so he decided to put it out. Nothing more to say.

So the fire in this big fire pit really cannot be extinguished? Neither! It is not difficult to extinguish the fire burning inside, but it is difficult to plug the leaking natural gas. This is more difficult, because in order to plug the source of underground natural gas leakage, we must first find the leakage place, which is not easy to find. , it is likely to be hundreds or even thousands of meters deep underground. To perform such an operation, the fire must be extinguished first. However, after extinguishing it, the staff may be poisoned by toxic gases, so it is also a troublesome matter.

It is said that this "Gate to Hell" in Turkey burns billions of dollars of natural gas in vain every year. However, the local government's scientific and technological level is limited and it is not yet able to develop and utilize this gas field. Now this place has become a tourist attraction, which may make up for part of the loss of resource waste.

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