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A subsidence crater is a hole or depression left on the surface of an area which has had an underground (usually 
When the material above the explosion is solid rock, then a mound may be formed by broken rock that has a greater volume. This type of mound has been called "retarc", "crater" spelled backwards.
When a drilling oil well encounters high-pressured gas which cannot be contained either by the weight of the drilling mud or by blow-out preventers, the resulting violent eruption can create a large crater which can swallow a drilling rig. This phenomenon is called "cratering" in oil field slang. An example is the
File:Subsidence craters at the nevada test site.jpg, Subsidence craters in the southern section of the
DOE Image of NTS's many subsidence craters
Crater at DOE site
Nuclear weapons testing Underground nuclear weapons testing Explosion craters Articles containing video clips
A subsidence crater is a hole or depression left on the surface of an area which has had an underground (usually nuclear
Nuclear may refer to:
Physics
Relating to the nucleus of the atom:
* Nuclear engineering
*Nuclear physics
*Nuclear power
*Nuclear reactor
*Nuclear weapon
*Nuclear medicine
*Radiation therapy
*Nuclear warfare
Mathematics
*Nuclear space
*Nuclear ...
) explosion. Many such craters are commonly present at bomb testing areas; one notable example is the Nevada Test Site
The Nevada National Security Site (N2S2 or NNSS), known as the Nevada Test Site (NTS) until 2010, is a United States Department of Energy (DOE) reservation located in southeastern Nye County, Nevada, about 65 miles (105 km) northwest of th ...
, which was historically used for nuclear weapons testing over a period of 41 years.
Subsidence craters are created as the roof of the cavity caused by the explosion
An explosion is a rapid expansion in volume associated with an extreme outward release of energy, usually with the generation of high temperatures and release of high-pressure gases. Supersonic explosions created by high explosives are known ...
collapses. This causes the surface to depress into a sink (which subsidence craters are sometimes called; see sink hole
A sinkhole is a depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer. The term is sometimes used to refer to doline, enclosed depressions that are locally also known as ''vrtače'' and shakeholes, and to openi ...
). It is possible for further collapse to occur from the sink into the explosion chamber. When this collapse reaches the surface, and the chamber is exposed atmospherically to the surface, it is referred to as a ''chimney''.
It is at the point that a chimney is formed through which radioactive fallout
Nuclear fallout is the residual radioactive material propelled into the upper atmosphere following a nuclear blast, so called because it "falls out" of the sky after the explosion and the shock wave has passed. It commonly refers to the radioac ...
may reach the surface. At the Nevada Test Site, depths of were used for tests.
When the material above the explosion is solid rock, then a mound may be formed by broken rock that has a greater volume. This type of mound has been called "retarc", "crater" spelled backwards.
When a drilling oil well encounters high-pressured gas which cannot be contained either by the weight of the drilling mud or by blow-out preventers, the resulting violent eruption can create a large crater which can swallow a drilling rig. This phenomenon is called "cratering" in oil field slang. An example is the Darvaza gas crater
The Darvaza gas crater ( tk, Garagum ýalkymy), also known as the Door to Hell or Gates of Hell, is a burning natural gas field collapsed into a cavern near Darvaza, Turkmenistan. How the crater formed and ignited remains unknown.
Geography
The ...
near Darvaza
Darvaza (from fa, دروازه, literally "gate"; tk, Derweze) is a rural council (village council) in Ak bugdaý District, Ahal Province, Turkmenistan of about 350 inhabitants, located in the middle of the Karakum Desert, about 260 km nor ...
, Turkmenistan.
Gallery
Nevada Test Site
The Nevada National Security Site (N2S2 or NNSS), known as the Nevada Test Site (NTS) until 2010, is a United States Department of Energy (DOE) reservation located in southeastern Nye County, Nevada, about 65 miles (105 km) northwest of th ...
File:Subsidence crater in formation.ogv, Subsidence crater in formation
See also
*Underground nuclear weapons testing
Underground nuclear testing is the Nuclear weapons testing, test detonation of nuclear weapons that is performed underground. When the device being tested is buried at sufficient depth, the nuclear explosion may be contained, with no release of ...
*Explosion crater
An explosion crater is a type of wikt:crater, crater formed when material is ejected from the surface of the ground by an explosive event at or immediately above or below the surface.
A crater is formed by an explosive event through the displacem ...
*Chagan (nuclear test)
Chagan () was a Soviet underground nuclear test conducted at the Semipalatinsk Test Site on January 15, 1965.
Description
Chagan was the first and largest of the 124 detonations in the Nuclear Explosions for the National Economy program, desi ...
*Sedan (nuclear test)
Storax Sedan was a shallow underground nuclear test conducted in Area 10 of Yucca Flat at the Nevada National Security Site on July 6, 1962, as part of Operation Plowshare, a program to investigate the use of nuclear weapons for mining, crateri ...
*Camouflet
A camouflet, in military science, is an artificial cavern created by an explosion. If the explosion reaches the surface then it is called a crater.
The term was originally defined as a countermine dug by defenders to prevent the undermining of a ...
*Glory hole (mining)
Underground hard-rock mining refers to various underground mining techniques used to excavate "hard" minerals, usually those containing metals, such as ore containing gold, silver, iron, copper, zinc, nickel, tin, and lead. It also involves the ...
, specifically the subsidence crater produced by underground block caving
Underground hard-rock mining refers to various underground mining techniques used to excavate "hard" minerals, usually those containing metals, such as ore containing gold, silver, iron, copper, zinc, nickel, tin, and lead. It also involves the ...
.
*Subsidence (atmosphere)
In the meteorology, study of Earth's atmosphere, subsidence is the downward movement of an air parcel as it cools and becomes density, denser. By contrast, warm air becomes less dense and moves upwards (atmospheric convection).
Subsidence ge ...
- the similar phenomenon observed in the air, upon cooling.
*Caldera
A caldera ( ) is a large cauldron-like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcano eruption. When large volumes of magma are erupted over a short time, structural support for the rock above the magma chamber is ...
References
{{reflistExternal links
DOE Image of NTS's many subsidence craters
Crater at DOE site
Nuclear weapons testing Underground nuclear weapons testing Explosion craters Articles containing video clips