Can the earth be dug through? Why didn’t the Soviet Union dig 12262 meters underground?

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The diameter of the earth is about 12756 kilometers. Can she be dug through? If it is dug through, what serious consequences will it cause? Let’s talk about it today.

earth

In 1970, the former Soviet Union established a scientific research station in the wasteland near the Norwegian border on the Kola Peninsula of Russia. Its purpose is to study the oldest rocks on our earth and understand the change process of geology over a long period of time. The project is the famous Kola ultra deep borehole, The vertical depth has reached 12262 meters and remains ” The deepest penetration into the earth’s crust ” The Guinness Book of world records.

Scientific research station

It is said that when drilling 12000 meters underground, scientists were surprised to find a cavity in the earth’s core. They used a super-precision tape recorder to detect it, but they heard a scream similar to human beings. They thought they had dug “ Hell gate ”. Then, the hole was sealed with reinforced concrete and molten steel. A heavy rusty well cover was embedded on the floor, with a circle of bolts firmly nailed on it, as if it had sealed some unknown secret, and the area of 50 kilometers was set as a restricted area.

Rusty metal cap

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In fact, the former Soviet Union launched the plan for another reason. At that time, there were two superpowers, one was the former Soviet Union and the other was the United States. If neither of them likes to see the other, let’s shake off their arms and have a competition. At that time, this well was also burdened with “ Win glory for the country ” Our glorious mission.

On the evening of July 20, 1969, the four landing brackets of the Apollo 11 lunar module finally landed safely in what was called “ Jinghai ” On the moon. American astronaut Armstrong set foot on the moon. As soon as the Soviet Union heard the news, it became anxious and saw that it would fall behind. What should it do? At this time, a leader patted his thigh and said yes“ Since they go to heaven, we’ll go to earth! Let’s dig the earth! As soon as other leaders heard this, they thought it was a good idea and agreed collectively.

Then set up a team and start site selection. The location of the borehole was chosen in the Kola Peninsula near the Norwegian border because this area is one of the oldest geological regions in Europe and has unique advantages.

Kola ultra deep borehole location

The drilling work officially began on May 24, 1970. Only a few scientists participated in the exploration. As a reward, each scientist was given a house in Moscow, and the monthly salary during the working period reached the annual salary of a university professor for one year. It has to be said that the former Soviet Union was really rich and powerful. This excavation lasted 24 years, and the drilling work was terminated in 1994. When the depth was 12000 meters, it was in 1983 and took only 13 years. The last 262 meters were carried out between 1983 and 1993, which took a whole decade. At this depth, why is the progress so slow? Let’s continue to look at what problems they have encountered.

Former Soviet scientists

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The above-mentioned legend about the gate of hell is certainly empty. In fact, these records themselves are groundless. Their original source was a letter from a reader in a Finnish newspaper, but they became more and more magical in the process of reprinting later. The real reason is that the more you dig down, the higher the temperature. The earth we live in is actually composed of three parts: crust, mantle and core. The corresponding temperatures of different strata are different, and the higher the temperature goes to the core. The temperature of the mantle is about 1000 ~ 3000 ℃, while the temperature of the earth’s core is about 6000 ~ 6500 ℃. At that time, the high-temperature drill bit was used for drilling, but it could not withstand the high temperature underground. The frequency of replacing the drill bit was higher and higher, resulting in a huge price. In the final analysis, it is still a technical problem. Otherwise, the former Soviet Union may really dig through the earth.

drill hole

What will happen if the earth is really dug through? The interior of the earth is a high-temperature and high-pressure environment, filled with high-temperature liquid substances, that is, magma. If this equilibrium environment is broken, that is, the earth is dug a hole, these magma will be ejected under high pressure, resulting in a rise in temperature, and the air will also be filled with dust. At that time, the environment on which all animals and plants depend will be seriously affected. Fortunately, the project was stopped due to insufficient funds. Since then, the research continued for several years until the funds were exhausted in 2006. In 2008, the site was abandoned, and the hole of kola ultra deep drilling was tightly covered by a rusty metal cap.

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“ Kola ultra deep drilling ” The project cost a lot of manpower, material resources and time, and finally there are some scientific research achievements. Scientists observed the life activities of 2 billion years ago. They found tiny plankton 6000 meters below the surface, which is actually intact in the underground environment of high temperature and high pressure. When the drilling depth reached 9500 meters, the bit drilled into a stratum containing gold and diamonds. The analysis of the core shows that the gold content is as high as 80g / T. We should know that gold deposits with gold content of 4 g / t have commercial mining value, while few gold deposits with gold content of more than 10 g / T can be found in the earth’s surface. But why didn’t mining take place? It was because the mining conditions were not available at that time. It would take ten years to drill only one hole to 9500 meters underground, and comprehensive mining could not be done at all.

gold mine

Well, let’s stop here today. The earth is the common home of all mankind. Only when we love her together can she treat us well.