More than a decade after mysterious holes were first discovered in the permafrost of Western Siberia, scientists are still putting forward new theories – from gas explosions to meteor impacts – on how they are formed.

A team of geoscientists from the University of Oslo, led by Helge Hellevang, has now thrown their hat into the icy ring, putting forth a new model that could explain why these holes formed exclusively on the Yamal and Gydan peninsulas and not in other Arctic permafrost regions .

The first was discovered in Siberia's Yamal Peninsula in 2014. It was about 30 meters (98.4 feet) across and more than 50 meters deep, surrounded by ejecta that hinted at explosive origins. These inexplicable holes have walls so vertical that you'd be forgiven for thinking machines

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