ENTER: Misc Avatar Contest: Holes In The Ground

[rhubarbodendron]

thanks for the help! As it's a crater on the backside of the moon I can't have seen it. But maybe I'll get the chance one day

 

[smiki]

The "Gates of Hell"

In the hot, expansive Karakum desert in Turkmenistan, near the 350 person village of Derweze, is a hole 100 meters (328 feet) wide that has been on fire. For over 40 years years it has constantly been active. This hole is known as the Darvaza Gas Crater or the "Gates of Hell" by locals, the crater can be seen glowing for miles around.

The hole is the outcome not of nature but of an industrial accident. In 1971 a Soviet drilling rig accidentally punched into a massive underground natural gas cavern, causing the ground to collapse and the entire drilling rig to fall in. Having punctured a pocket of gas, poisonous fumes began leaking from the hole at an alarming rate. To head off a potential environmental catastrophe, the Soviets set the hole alight. The crater hasn't stopped burning since.

Though little information is available about the fate of the Soviet drilling rig, presumably it is still down there somewhere, on the other side of the "Gates of Hell."

Also, @trekkiedane: I'd go with number 2.
@Kai "the spy": I'd go with 2,3 and 4, in that order. Didn't help much there now did I?

 

[trekkiedane]

Also, @trekkiedane: I'd go with number 2.
@Kai "the spy": I'd go with 2,3 and 4, in that order. Didn't help much there now did I?

Then that's the one I'm going with! (please notice this RJD )

 

[Kai "the spy"]

The "Gates of Hell"

In the hot, expansive Karakum desert in Turkmenistan, near the 350 person village of Derweze, is a hole 100 meters (328 feet) wide that has been on fire. For over 40 years years it has constantly been active. This hole is known as the Darvaza Gas Crater or the "Gates of Hell" by locals, the crater can be seen glowing for miles around.

The hole is the outcome not of nature but of an industrial accident. In 1971 a Soviet drilling rig accidentally punched into a massive underground natural gas cavern, causing the ground to collapse and the entire drilling rig to fall in. Having punctured a pocket of gas, poisonous fumes began leaking from the hole at an alarming rate. To head off a potential environmental catastrophe, the Soviets set the hole alight. The crater hasn't stopped burning since.

Though little information is available about the fate of the Soviet drilling rig, presumably it is still down there somewhere, on the other side of the "Gates of Hell."

Now, this is awesome!

@Kai "the spy": I'd go with 2,3 and 4, in that order. Didn't help much there now did I?

Not really. Although, maybe a gif?!

 

[RJDiogenes]

Wow, "Gates of Hell" is pretty impressive. Reminds me of that town that's been on fire for umpteen years.

Last call for entries, folks. I will try to put up the voting thread soon, schedule permitting. Tonight, tomorrow morning, something like that.

Then that's the one I'm going with! (please notice this RJD )

Gotcha.

 

[rhubarbodendron]

how long is the voting poll open, usually? My hamster will get his surgery tomorrow, so I took the day plus the ensuing weekend off and shall stay with my parents (closer to the veterinary clinic). As my dad is a computer nerd I would be surprised if I got more than 5 mins online time till monday...

 

[RJDiogenes]

I'll give another 24 hours for entries, and then voting can go until Tuesday or Wednesday. You'll have plenty of time to get the little guy all fixed up.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

Not to derail, but what kind of surgery can a hamster have? A whiskerectomy?

 

[RJDiogenes]

Little guy has some kind of a tumor in his cheek.

 

[RJDiogenes]

The voting thread is up here.