On April 17 in Irkutsk the Fund for Protection of Lake Baikal made a presentation of the research work “Patom crater. History of researches in the XXI Century”, published on the results of the conference of the same name held in Saint-Petersburg State Mining University in 2011. The collection contains more than 20 articles of leading Russian scientists in the field of geology, geomorphology, geochemistry, dendrochronology, and nuclear physics.
The book, published with the support of the Fund for Protection of Lake Baikal (FPLB), was introduced by the organizer and participant of the expeditions to the Patom crater in 2010 and 2011, the State Duma deputy, Chairman of the Guardianship Board of the FPLB Mikhail Slipenchuk. He noted that the hypothesis of object origin cause controversy. All these hypotheses are presented in this publication, including cryogenic hypothesis which found confirmation in the analysis of the results of the expedition Patom crater-2011. To confirm the final version of this, it is necessary to hold a number of additional scientific experiments, and to organize a new expedition to the crater.
The participants of the presentation, including representatives of the Irkutsk Scientific Center of Russian Academy of Science and the government of the Irkutsk region, discussed prospects for further researches and tourist potential of this unique object.
Vice President of the FPLB Bair Tsyrenov also outlined the plans for the Fund for 2012: the conference Baikal - the world treasure at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, the opening of the museum complex Noosphera in Irkutsk, the continuation of the project Eco-camp. Khakusy and expedition Selenga-Baikal, etc.
Information
The Patom crater was discovered in 1949 by geologist Vadim Kolpakov. The crater is situated in 360 km from the district center Bodaybo. It is a large mound of limestone with a diameter of about 160 m and a height of 40 m and on top of the shaft is circular with a diameter of about 80 m. The crater is located in the permafrost zone; its age is estimated to be 500 years old. During the period of study of the crater it was attributed to very different origin: the next big super-dense meteor fall, which went under the ground, a deep blow-by, a fragment of the Tunguska meteorite. In 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2011 the expeditions to study it were organized.
Expeditions of 2010 and 2011 were held with the organizational and financial support of the FPLB and METROPOL Group. At the moment, the question of the object inclusion in a number of the natural monuments of the Russian Federation is considered.
