Numerous natural wonders never fail to evoke a sense of awe with their peculiar yet utterly fascinating existence. Such was the case with adventurer and photographer, Mike Loughran when he stumbled upon a captivating phenomenon—an eternal flame that flickers perpetually at the base of a waterfall. Eternal flames, scattered sparingly across the globe, defy the norms of conventional fires. Some have been ablaze for centuries, and in a few instances, even millennia. While the flame at Eternal Flame Falls is indeed eternal, there’s a technicality—occasionally, it requires rekindling.
Most eternal flames trace their origins to natural gas leaks, ignited and sustained by an abundant fuel supply. Some were unintentionally lit by unsuspecting individuals, while others resulted from natural phenomena like lightning strikes. From Turkey and India to Iraq and Nepal, natural eternal flames have reputedly burned for thousands of years.
Yet, the revelation that Mike shared about nine main natural eternal flames merely scratches the surface. In reality, there are more, predominantly fueled by natural gas deposits and a handful sustained by burning coal seams. One of the most renowned examples is the door to hell in Turkmenistan—a crater engulfed in perpetual flames, perched atop a natural gas field, burning for decades.
However, not all eternal flames are products of nature’s hand. Some are meticulously maintained as acts of commemoration. In the United Kingdom, eternal flames stand at New Scotland Yard, London, honouring fallen police officers, at Liverpool’s Anfield stadium in memory of the Hillsborough disaster victims, and one in Derry symbolising renewed hopes for peace after The Troubles.
Meanwhile, the eternal flame witnessed by Loughran is situated at Eternal Flame Falls in Orchard Park, New York, nestled within a 35-foot waterfall. Within one of its grottos resides a diminutive flickering flame, approximately 8 inches high, believed to have been ignited thousands of years ago by Native Americans. Traditionally, scientists attributed the flame’s sustained existence to gas pockets emerging from the ancient and scorching shale bedrock.
However, a study led by Professor Arndt Schimmelmann and a team from Indiana University challenges this long-held belief, according to the report by Discovery.com. Contrary to expectations, the shale beneath the waterfall appears neither sufficiently hot nor ancient to generate gas pockets. Schimmelmann states, “This flame and these seepages have occurred for millions of years in those areas, and we know that the source rock, about 400 meters deep, is not very warm. It should not even be able to produce much gas at this temperature, yet the gas is coming, and it’s not being depleted.”
The perplexing mystery deepens as researchers propose an alternative hypothesis, suggesting a different mechanism is responsible for the continuous generation of gas at depth. In essence, something beyond the current understanding is fueling the enigmatic eternal flame, leaving scientists grappling with unanswered questions about the true nature of its sustained existence.
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