Siberia’s ‘Gateway to Hell’ Is Growing Fast — and Revealing a Prehistoric Secret

In Siberia’s far northeast, a vast scar in the frozen ground is widening year by year. Locals call it the “Gateway to Hell,” but scientists know it as the Batagay or Batagaika megaslump — the largest known permafrost slump on Earth.

It is not a volcanic crater or an impact site. It is a dramatic collapse caused by thawing permafrost, and as it expands, it is exposing ancient ice, buried ecosystems, fossil remains, and climate records that have been locked underground for hundreds of thousands of years. Discover Wildlife reports that the feature now covers around 81 hectares and is thought to be about 800 metres wide, 50 metres deep, and one kilometre long.