<p>Blowholes are formed through small openings in the ground through which air will blow out or suck in.They have been likened to natural fans or vacuums.Blowholes are dependent on weather: air temperature and pressure interact to create the stunning effects when air travels from higher to lower density. When outside air warms up, it may eventually become the same density as air underground, causing air flow at the blowhole to stop.This outside air continues to warm up, causing air to begin blowing out of the hole.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-07-27T19:32:16.267Z
Are you suggesting that this is a natural blowhole? To/from what then?
Jan Doggen
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-07-27T18:21:12.920Z
2016-07-27T18:21:12.920Z
krishna
<p>This video clip, <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3576719/What-Workers-baffled-discovering-blowhole-desert-sends-sand-shooting-hundreds-feet-air-refuses-filled-in.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">"Strange Hole in the desert Blows Sand into the air in Saudi Arabia"</a> (<a href="https://www.facebook.com/brunei.islam/videos/1066764660047708/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">alternative link</a>), shows a hole in the desert that erupts like a geyser, except with sand instead of water. It is apparently located in the Aljof area in the north of Saudi Arabia.</p>

<p>The commenters on this video (and its duplicates) have come up with many conjectures, including:</p>

<ul>
<li>natural gas from a freshly-drilled mine</li>
<li>a broken pipeline underneath.</li>
<li>a pressure build up of certain gases, like methane.</li>
<li>a fake video.</li>
<li>seismic or volcanic activity.</li>
</ul>

<p>Can anyone explain what this phenomena is?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-05-23T11:15:43.253Z
That is a copy of [this better quality video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PG0ag4ypGto), and the comments below it explain/suggest what's going on.
Jan Doggen
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-20T14:50:55.167Z
@JabDoggen The YouTube account behind your link is gone and so is the video. However, the  original story at the Daily Mail linked by OP is still there.
Spencer
<geology>
What is this "hole" that blows sand into the air?
NVZ
# What is this "hole" that blows sand into the air?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-05-22)

This video clip, ["Strange Hole in the desert Blows Sand into the air in Saudi Arabia"](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3576719/What-Workers-baffled-discovering-blowhole-desert-sends-sand-shooting-hundreds-feet-air-refuses-filled-in.html) ([alternative link](https://www.facebook.com/brunei.islam/videos/1066764660047708/)), shows a hole in the desert that erupts like a geyser, except with sand instead of water. It is apparently located in the Aljof area in the north of Saudi Arabia.

The commenters on this video (and its duplicates) have come up with many conjectures, including:

* natural gas from a freshly-drilled mine
* a broken pipeline underneath.
* a pressure build up of certain gases, like methane.
* a fake video.
* seismic or volcanic activity.

Can anyone explain what this phenomena is?

**Tags:** geology

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: That is a copy of [this better quality video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PG0ag4ypGto), and the comments below it explain/suggest what's going on.  
> **username_2**: @JabDoggen The YouTube account behind your link is gone and so is the video. However, the  original story at the Daily Mail linked by OP is still there.  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2016-07-27. Score: 2

Blowholes are formed through small openings in the ground through which air will blow out or suck in.They have been likened to natural fans or vacuums.Blowholes are dependent on weather: air temperature and pressure interact to create the stunning effects when air travels from higher to lower density. When outside air warms up, it may eventually become the same density as air underground, causing air flow at the blowhole to stop.This outside air continues to warm up, causing air to begin blowing out of the hole.

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Are you suggesting that this is a natural blowhole? To/from what then?  

---

