Fun
Only logged in members can reply and interact with the post.
Join SimilarWorlds for FREE »

Did you know: the deepest hole on Earth?

The deepest hole on Earth" that was permanently sealed after a discovery of 2 billion year old rock formations is called the Kola Superdeep Borehole, located on the Kola Peninsula in Russia; it was drilled by the Soviet Union as part of a scientific research project to study the Earth's crust, and was capped due to safety concerns and the extreme conditions encountered at such depths.
Key points about the Kola Superdeep Borehole:
Depth:
It reached a depth of 12,262 meters (40,230 feet), making it the deepest man-made hole on Earth.
Discovery:
Researchers found extremely old rock formations, estimated to be around 2 billion years old, during the drilling process.
Reason for sealing:
The borehole was eventually sealed due to high temperatures and pressures encountered at such depths, as well as safety concerns.
Scientific significance:
Despite its closure, the Kola Superdeep Borehole provided valuable data about the Earth's crust composition.

Kinda wonder how many people been thrown down in there though before ' sealed' 😳
This page is a permanent link to the reply below and its nested replies. See all post replies »
Mariana Trench
@cinsac that is around 36000 feet isnt it
@Bexsy Exactly
@cinsac i just looked it up, it goes deeper than the Mariana does.
Which is pretty amazing
@OogieBoogie it is amazing, not sure how they handled that pressure
@Bexsy i think it was the heat that stopped them drilling further. Something about the drill heads fucking up .

Pressure is what stops them researching the ocean . Which is a shame, as we know so little about the sea and what's in it.

I read somewhere that we have only researched about 5% of it !
@OogieBoogie the sea has alway fascinated me. So many mysteries
@Bexsy same. I nearly became a marine biologist .
Still regret that i didn't.
@OogieBoogie You are correct, and it's a trench, not a hole. I stand corrected, thank you.
@cinsac its cool, i thought we were just comparing depths.
Its kinda ironic that we can dig that deep, yet not go that deep, ocean-wise.
@OogieBoogie you woulda been a great one, Oogie, reason i thought the pressure would have been tremendous was part of what I read about it said this:

"Due to its extreme depth, the pressure at the bottom is estimated to be thousands of times greater than at sea level. "

That just sounded uncomfortable 😳
@Bexsy im not sure about the air pressure.
I mean, im no expert, but itd be a bit of a complex calculation of air pressure divided, (? ...or something), by gravity. Gravity would lessen, but air pressure would increase.

And air is waaaay lighter than water, so i imagine it wouldn't be too bad - at least not beyond divable water depths we can obtain these days.
It would ne fucking HOT tho, prolly beyond human capabilities of surviving .


Think human shish kebab 😅



They could have meant the geostatic pressure of the rock. Rock at that depth would be pretty damn dense - its under billions of 'whatevers' of force. And if force is mass x acceleration, well that's a SHITLOAD of mass.
Ie: a SHITLOAD of pressure compacting it.
I mean, basic coal gets converted to diamonds at higher depths...so.....🤷‍♀

I wonder if they meant that the pressure of the density of the rock, (plus the existent heat that far down, AND the heat generated by the frictionof the drill), were just too much for the drill heads to handle...
...or maybe the rock was melting.

Maybe it just got too expensive.
The more i think about it, the more logisitcs im becoming aware of.
Like: to have a motor above to turn a drill tjat far down....the mechanics is pretty mind boggling. All the way down the drill line, there would be lots and lots of areas or "joins" where force is lost. So that'd mean bigger motor. Bigger crane or base to hold that motor....and so forth. God....even the removal of the rock from the hole would be an ordeal.
@OogieBoogie i bet got too expensive, whewwwee! The cost 🥴