Ural lakes-dips, or How the Russian city of Berezniki today goes underground

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Using natural resources, a person often does not think about what his activity can lead to. But sometimes such an intervention has dire consequences. A very striking example of this is the large Ural city of Berezniki, which literally goes underground. It is dotted with gigantic sinkholes that look terrifying and at the same time fascinating, and meanwhile the soil in different parts of the city continues to sink. Alas, people are not yet able to stop this process.

Once upon a time there was a sea

The town of Berezniki is located in very picturesque places. These lands have a very ancient history. Archaeologists have discovered here the sites of people of the Mesolithic era, dating back to 12-6 millennia BC. At a later time, an ancient people lived here, which was the ancestor of the modern Permian Komi, and in the XIV-XV centuries Russians began to move here from the European part of our country and mix with local tribes.

But about 300 million years ago, according to the assumptions of geologists and historians, on the site of the city of Berezniki there was a sea surrounded by tropical forests.

However, let's return to later times. The development of salt deposits, which were led by the Stroganov brothers, began in these places during the time of Ivan the Terrible.

The name of the city was given by Poboishchny Island, which was also called Berezov. It was closer to the left bank of the Kama, but over time, the water between it and the "mainland" was covered with sand, resulting in the formation of a tract named after the island - Berezniki.

A treasure trove of natural resources

After the revolution, the development of salt deposits in this area began to go at an accelerated pace. A well appeared near the city of Solikamsk, and geologists discovered huge reserves of potassium, magnesium and sodium chloride. It is precisely with the fact that once there were sea spaces with lagoons and reefs, modern scientists associate the presence of these natural resources underground.

In 1929, after the Verkhnekamskoye potash deposit was discovered, the Bereznikovsky chemical plant was built nearby. And in 1932, several local workers' settlements were combined into one settlement - the city of Berezniki. Subsequently, it became the second largest city in the Perm Territory.

For several decades, three mines appeared in Berezniki, and now the city actually stands on top of mine workings.

When laying mines, workers experienced difficulties associated with a high degree of dampness, in connection with which, as early as the 1970s, some scientists began to sound the alarm, warning of the risk of subsidence and destruction of residential buildings in the city. However, work continued underground. Residential high-rise buildings were erected over the mines.

The city gradually goes underground

Since the 1990s, the city has been experiencing a real disaster: in Berezniki every now and then there are accidents at mines and man-made earthquakes. Brine streams of very strong power and groundwater flood the mine workings, and the walls of multi-storey buildings above them are covered with cracks.

The first sinkhole, which, according to eyewitnesses, was accompanied by a gas explosion and powerful light flashes, happened in Berezniki in 1986. He cut a forest stream near the accident and formed a small waterfall, as well as a crater more than 100 meters deep. Other failures followed. The width of these craters is from several tens to hundreds of meters.

Some city buildings had to be resettled and given the status of emergency, and it was about entire blocks. At various times, the local railway station, a school and an Orthodox church were damaged.

At the same time, it is beautiful and creepy to look at the giant gaps, like holes piercing the city. Filling with water, they resemble either strange lakes, or a bizarre shape of a funnel from meteorites.

Currently, experts are monitoring the failures, but it is very difficult to predict the movement of the ground. There is a real risk that the city will gradually sink into the ground, and almost all of its surface will be filled with water. In this case, the area, which millions of years ago was a sea, will again turn into expanses of water.

The sad fate of this wonderful Ural city is symbolic and instructive. It shows us that man is not at all the ruler of nature, but the same guest on Earth, like other living beings. And the consumer attitude towards our planet can turn into a disaster.

Thinking about cities submerged under water, you involuntarily recall sunken ancient civilizations, traces of which they are looking for today