The Well of Darvaza, also known as the "Gate to Hell," is located in the Karakum Desert, Turkmenistan. Its location is very close to the small village of Darvaza, where its name comes from. The main reason for its existence is that it is an old gas prospect. The desert, which occupies a total of 350.000km ^ 2, that is, 70% of the country's extension. Of inhospitable sands, where "Karakum" means "black sands, it is one of the largest deserts in existence. Its main human interest emanates from the fact that it is very rich in both gas and oil.
The dimensions of the Darvaza well are 69 meters in diameter and 30 meters deep. The temperature inside it usually oscillates around 400 degrees Celsius. And it has become a great tourist attraction, and documentaries have even been made about it. His story? Natural environment, and human environment.
The curious story of the well of Darvaza
The inside of the Gate to Hell
We go back to 1971. Soviet geologists were prospecting for the abundant gas found in the Karakum desert. Drilling for natural gas fields, the Russians watched as all their excavation was absorbed by the earth. That is to say, all their valuable equipment had been swallowed up by a huge crater. What they had actually discovered was a large underground cave filled with natural gas. But something happened, lots of toxic gases emanating from the bottom.
Fearing that this reaction would have negative effects, the team decided to set it on fire. That was the great idea. They sensed that perhaps in 3 or 4 days the fire would go out, they waited weeks. They gave up, that was a better idea. If not, they had already been waiting 46 years! When will it go out? There are no bets anymore, nobody knows. There have been unsuccessful attempts to pay for the fire. Meanwhile, the Darvaza well will continue to burn gas unabated.