Scientists discovered a mysterious giant sinkhole located in North Siberia's Yamal Peninsula last July and have now reached the base of the crater to determine the scientific causes behind this bizarre event.

Scientists used climbing equipment to reach the frozen base of the crater that is 10.5 meters deep. The journey down the funnel was successful and scientists took probes and made some measurements of the crater.

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Scientists will then study the data from the crater to decipher the cause of this sink hole, according to Vladimir Pushkarev, mission leader and director of the Russian Center of Arctic Exploration.

Pushkarev also said it's also safer and easier to reach the bottom of the sinkhole during winter when it's frozen as opposed to summer. Before winter, accessible areas of the crater were about 16.5 meters deep.

Scientists and experts from the Russian Center of Arctic Exploration and other institutions are now examining the sinkhole. The mission team performed radiolocation tests from a depth of 200 meters.

Samples of ice, soil and air were also taken from the crater. The samples will be sent to seven laboratories for further analysis. In the meantime, scientists will process other data from the crater samples.

Scientists are also exploring the surrounding crater regions. They will compare new photos of the area with old images taken from satellites in the 1980s to see if there arer any similarities. Scientists believe this event may have occurred a long time ago but just went unnoticed.

The crater was first discovered along with two sinkholes. At that time, experts believed this phenomenon was a man-made hoax, or caused by a stray missile that crashed into the ground. There was even speculation aliens were responsible for the crater.

On the other hand, scientists theorize underground gas hydrates exploded in the subsurface creating the sinkhole.

After months of studying the crater, scientists are still baffled as to why this sinkhole exists and how it came to be. The team said there wasn't anything unusual inside the hole but they're still waiting for the lab test results.

TagsScientists Climb Into Giant Mysterious Crater in SIberia for Analysis, siberian sinkhole, siberian crater, giant crater in siberia, sinkholes, Siberia