Gas emission crater

Soon after their discovery, the term "gas emissions crater" was proposed and subsequently accepted by the scientific community.

Initially, with the sudden global fame of the Yamal crater [ru], various hypotheses of its origin were put forward, including military tests, meteorite impact, UFOs, or the collapse of an underground gas facility.

[7][8] Later, in September 2018, a group of researchers from Moscow State University published an article in the journal Scientific Reports that claimed that the Yamal crater was the first cryovolcano discovered on Earth.

[10][1][2][3] More specifically, their formation most likely occurs under the influence of fluid-dynamic processes in permafrost, which lead to the appearance of zones of accumulation of free natural gas near the surface.

While thawing can promote methane release it has also been suggested that surface ice-melt water can migrate downward propelled by osmotic pressure associated to the concentration difference with a cryopeg, a lens of high-salinity water below, working as a mechanism for the accumulation of overpressure driving explosions.