Аннотация:This article deals with the genesis of the gas discharge funnel located 30 km south of the Bovanenkovskoye gas condensate field and named the Yamal crater. A new approach contains the theory of the formation of similar funnels due to the structural transformations of the frozen massif under the influence of gases coming from the decomposition of gas hydrates. The leading role of lakes in the formation of local zones of dissociation of gas hydrates was declared. The estimation of the pressure that is necessary for migration of fluids in frozen rocks and the explosion that formed the Yamal crater was carried out.