Scientists To Drill Deeper Than Ever Before, Hope To Sample Mantle

They're planning on going where no one has ever gone before.

Scientists say it's now possible to drill through Earth's crust and potentially sample Earth's mantle, according to a commentary in the March 24 issue of Nature. The piece came out on the 50th anniversary of the first attempt to drill into the mantle.

"That has been a long-term ambition of earth scientists," geologist Damon Teagle, one of the commentary's writers, told National Geographic News.

Until now, a lack of technology and knowledge about the inner workings of the planet have made sampling the mantle impossible, according to National Geographic. But now the technology exists, including a Japanese drill ship equipped with the six miles of piping that it would take to drill through the planet's crust.

The paper says if everything goes as planned drilling could begin by 2020, though exploratory missions could begin as soon as next month. According to NatGeo, scientists will "bore further into the oceanic crust than ever before" even during the preliminary phases.

The plan to drill aims to find out more not only about Earth's inner workings, namely insight into seismic activity, but could hold clues to the origins of the planet. To this point, the only way for scientists to learn about the inner workings has been through material that comes to the surface through volcanoes.

The drilling would also give the scientists an opportunity to learn more about the shadowy "Moho" layer, which lies between the crust and the mantle. "We know what ... happens to seismic waves as they cross the Moho, but we don't know what it is," Teagle told National Geographic.

Comments

[Wyatt Phoebe]

02:20 PM on 03/30/2011

I heard Yellow Stone National park would be a great place to test this out at.

[jsgaetano]

06:42 PM on 03/29/2011

Can a subway to China be far behind?

[JayDubs]

05:24 PM on 03/29/2011

No you fools! Don't you know you'll unleash...

THE INHUMANOIDS: THE EVIL THAT LIES WITHIN

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSO_6YxCirQ

[Roadrun]

02:46 PM on 03/29/2011

Just as a curiosity: How would you go about making a volcano?

[JaxReader]

05:56 PM on 03/28/2011

Interesting. I sure hope they are positive nothing is going to come shooting up when they get to the Moho layer.

[totaldisbelief]

05:51 PM on 03/28/2011

why is part of me sure this will end in another disaster ?

[jsgaetano]

06:43 PM on 03/29/2011

Hopefully BP and Halliburton aren't involved.

[INDIVIDUALTERRY]

02:56 PM on 03/28/2011

The people of Inner-Earth are not going to welcome this intrusion!

[jsgaetano]

06:44 PM on 03/29/2011

Maybe we can set up solar panels down there to collect energy from the inner sun!

[RedRat]

02:37 PM on 03/28/2011

The photo used is of a tunnel boring machine not the type of drill being considered. Otherwise an interesting article.

[yukonsam]

02:37 PM on 03/28/2011

Having the capability to tap the mantle would add a potent resource to our energy mix, if it can be done safely and cleanly. The only problem with the "drill, baby, drill" proponents is that their thinking is too shallow. There's enough heat beneath our feet to power civilization for ages, if we can get to it.

[Roadrun]

04:52 PM on 03/29/2011

That's a good idea. Actually there is a lot of work still to do on geothermal right here on the surface. I guess we stopped trying to be creative when someone found out they could charge for the liquid CO2, therefore all this other stuff went ignored.

On a hill in Reykjavik are some big tanks the earth keeps filled with hot water. They all use radiator heating and it's free.

[ClintBMD]

01:21 PM on 03/28/2011

I worked on a rig in the early 80's where we were drilling nearly a mile down. I clearly remember how long and tedious it was, and how easily it was for the operation to be halted through either human activity on the drill floor, or faulty piping, or unexpected formations through which we had to drill.

I think it's a great idea that requires careful monitoring so as not to create an environmental issue but frankly, I think it's going to fail. It takes to long to trip in and out of the hole, too many joints have to be connected, too much torque applied too long to too many sections of pipe, too many unexpected formations, and the list goes on. As long as someone else is paying for it, then hey - go for it.

[Marlyn]

10:38 AM on 03/28/2011

Did you ever see that movie "Crack in the World" (1965) ?

[zx880]

01:16 PM on 03/28/2011

Yes, and I was just about to make that analogy too.

[Titus]

10:06 AM on 03/28/2011

Don't do it! I saw this on Dr. Who. Lot's of really nasty things come up from below the surface. They look quite a lot like Jim DeMint.

[riffenberg]

01:45 PM on 03/28/2011

Well talk to Obama. He's the one who gave Brazil permission to drill deep in the gulf and Carter gave the Russians and the Cubans permission to drill there too. Not only that but Obama has given 1 trillion to Brazil's Petroblas to dig deep into the ocean for oil. Guess what, Soros has positioned himself to receive dividends from Petroblas.,

[Titus]

01:58 PM on 03/28/2011

Well, I was just commenting to add the Dr. Who joke, but now that you mention it, when and where did Obama give Petrobras $1 trillion dollars? I don't think he can do that. I know the guy has some coin, but $1 trillion? That's a lot of bread even for the chief.

[Roadrun]

04:56 PM on 03/29/2011

" Not only that but Obama has given 1 trillion to Brazil's Petroblas to dig deep into the ocean for oil."

I know its from FoxNews but I don't recognize the entertainer. Please tell us.

[DorianCorso]

09:05 AM on 03/29/2011

Chuds and Morlocks, dude .

And that's just in the senate. Who knows what they're going to find when they start digging.

[themodernleader]

07:49 AM on 03/28/2011

  Americans chase money through computers while other developing nations actually do the work.  Nations that chase "fools gold" are fooling themselves. Our working folk and small businessmen are the  strength of our nation.  That strength has disappeared leaving us with a Soviet-style economy under private monopolistic ownership.
   Go to virtually any eating establishment and you will feel the reach of plutocracy as bland food of high fat and low nutrition is served to an ever more unhealthy population.
   Our monopolies ship our jobs overseas and hide their profits in foreign nations.  Our government supports their treason.  Good bye, the once splendid American Republic.  Hello, serfdom.

[gateking]

10:50 AM on 03/28/2011

Was all of this caused or somehow related to the prospect of deeper drilling?

[scdumbfounded]

01:20 PM on 03/28/2011

He doesn't have much time to read the headlines, he has an appointment to wander around his city holding up a "The end is Nigh" sign while asking people for change

[themodernleader]

04:37 PM on 03/28/2011

   Did you read the article?  The Japanese are doing the drilling.  We are making excuses for having tens of millions of Americans sitting around doing nothing.  May of these Americans are highly skilled.

[Frits Rincker]

03:54 AM on 03/28/2011

Can anyone explain the use of this endeavour other than possible satisfaction of curiosity?

[boyd3b]

01:18 PM on 03/28/2011

The mantle is more magnesium and iron rich; perhaps is could be a more envirnomentally rich form of mining than strip-mining the surface. The mantle is also a geothermally rich environment, and with the right materials (still to be engineered), we could harness that energy.

[droog1]

09:30 AM on 03/29/2011

How about gaining a better understanding of earth processes? Scientific endeavor often has economic benefits. Just look at the tech advancements that came from NASA in the 60s.

[chainsawmonkey]

02:15 AM on 03/28/2011

Is that a peer reviewed journal?