5 ms·
How/why is it such an incredibly "clean" and round hole?
by mehrdadn 6y ago
How/why is it such an incredibly "clean" and round hole?
- titzer 6y agoWhy are bubbles round?
- thaumasiotes 6y agoBubbles are round because of air pressure. But that doesn't really apply to large holes in the ground. The ground is a lot more difficult to move than a thin soap film is. Most caves aren't round. Most mountains aren't round, and when they are, it's for different reasons.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- GarrisonPrime 6y agoThe holes in the ground appear to have been caused by air pressure (expanding methane gas), so perhaps the bubble analogy is apt.
- tejtm 6y agotundra is peat peat of made of decaying moss moss is permeable like a sponge sponges can hold stuff stuff can change state with changes in temp/pressure stuff in a new state can occupy increased volume increased volume can cause increased pressure increasing pressure increases temperature changing the state of more stuff ... (wavefront) path of least resistance contains most square inches with least circumference
- nitrogen 6y agoHN's formatting engine requires two newlines between paragraphs. That way you can separate points and make them more readable (punctuation also helps).
- gostsamo 6y agoCaves are not created due to gas pressure neither are mountains. The former are the result of water flowing and solving weak rock, while mountains are the front of colliding tectonic plates. In this case you have gas and mud.
- userbinator 6y agoA sphere has the lowest ratio of surface area to volume.
- hu3 6y agoThe article hints that it's formed from gas pressure: > The craters appear because ‘gas-saturated cavities are formed in the permafrost… > "In a literal sense, a void space filled with gas with high pressure. The covering layer distends, the thickness of which is 5-10 metres approximately." > Explosions have happened in swelling pingos, or mounds in the tundra which erupts when the gas builds up under a thick cap of ice.
- GarrisonPrime 6y agoPerhaps because it's caused by an eruption of methane gas. Perhaps the bubble analogy is apt.
- tzs 6y agoIt might be similar to the reason sinkholes are usually round [1]. [1] https://io9.gizmodo.com/why-are-sinkholes-round-1614203510 https://io9.gizmodo.com/why-are-sinkholes-round-1614203510
- pottertheotter 6y agoInteresting. Relevant quote from that link: "When a void occurs in sediment that has a certain amount of cohesion ('stickiness' among sediment grains), the most stable configuration of the roof of the void is a dome, like the dome of the U.S. Capitol building. If that dome collapses, the vertical sides may remain upright, and the open hole will be circular."