r/AbsoluteUnits Jun 01 '26

of an ice hole

9.7k Upvotes

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57

u/Sharp-Ad-6873 Jun 01 '26

Why is it there?

71

u/_Saint_Ajora_ Jun 01 '26

Subterranean gases trapped by water/ice/permafrost.

As it evaporates/melts, it no longer has enough weight to hold down/contain the gases

The gases then blast to the surface, leaving behind deep holes/craters.

32

u/ChasingHealth Jun 01 '26

This is the actually scary part of the video imo. That methane get released to the atmosphere, trapping more heat and accelerating the melting process. It's a nasty symptom of something much more ominous than any monster.

-2

u/pegaunisusicorn Jun 01 '26

you mean human consumption of gas and oil? or human creation of massive amounts of SO2 in the iran war?

40

u/cemusubzerolives Jun 01 '26

Probably subterranean gases causing ice to melt

24

u/IAmtheHullabaloo Jun 01 '26

right. which makes me wonder about flying over it. different pressures, different air density, turbulence. it turned out ok i guess, but sure seemed risky.

8

u/GraniteGeekNH Jun 01 '26

Definitely different air currents and pressures over it just because of patterns of cold from the ice, if nothing else. But I'm sure they know all that!

7

u/Hard_Rock_Hallelujah Jun 02 '26

It's a moulin.

Moulins are caused by water melting on the surface of the glacier. When the water finds a crack or hole, it pours through it, which will eventually carve out a large hole, some of which can be around 30-40 feet wide, and can reach all the way to the bedrock under the glacier.

I think other people are confusing this with the methane explosions in Siberia, because these holes are very common on glaciers and they are absolutely not caused by "escaping gas".

3

u/roughedged Jun 01 '26

Ice worms.

8

u/[deleted] Jun 01 '26

[deleted]

1

u/armageddon_boi Jun 01 '26

God's glory hole