At https://dailygalaxy.com/2026/10/patom-crater-siberia-new-origin-theory/ … a 40 metre high cone of roughly a millions tons of limestone rising in the Siberian taiga in the forests of the Patom highlands, is the subject of this post. To see an image of the odd cone you need to go to the link. It has what looks like a crater at the top – and a smaller hill sitting in the middle. Dimitry Demezkho of the Bodaibo institute suggests it may have been formed by gas creeping from depth into the frozen ground of the Siberian perma frost. The Electric Universe buffs might think otherwise.
Geologist Vadim Kolpakov described it in 1949 during a mapping survey of the region. He proposed it might be a fallen meteorite. Locals called it the fiery eagles nest – which should tell us something about its origin. In 1951 geologist SV Obruchov suggested a jet of gas and steam had burnt through ground weakened by faults. The cone is situated on a hillside. A ring shaped ridge 80 m wide surrounds a pit 12 to 15 m deep. The central hill is 34 m across at its base. Expeditions in 2006 and 2008 analysed rocks on the cone. Geologists found the limestone in all parts of the crater have the same composition as those of the surrounding bedrock. Nickel was absent -0or in low quantity. Not a meteor, then. The structure of the cone argues against a single event, we are informed. The ring shaped ridge is made of two parts formed at different times. The central hill appears to have formed last of all. Blocks of sandstone and schist mixed into the limestone tell another story. They seem to have been dragged from a deeper location. They were heavily enriched with calcium and strontium on the way. Oxygen isotopes suggest it reacted with water hotter than 100 degrees C – and the cone was perhaps produced by a phreatic explosion. A blast of hot steam formed by magma rising into water soaked rock. The surprising thing is that it only dates back around 500 years ago – and the central hill in the crater, just 70 or so years ago.