Researchers from the Japan Agency for Marine Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) have announced a highly ambitious project. For the first time in history, scientists are going to get to the very depths of our planet, drilling through the earth's crust and reaching the mantle. In fact, there have been many attempts to drill the Earth so deep over the past 50 years, but all previous times it has not been possible to achieve the intended goal. One of the most recent attempts was a project by the United Oceanographic Society for Deep Drilling, which were able to go deep about 700 meters. Why are Japanese researchers so confident that they will succeed?
CNN news agency, citing Japanese sources, reports that the researchers are planning to use the special drilling ship Chikyū. The vessel will receive a rig that will be able to drill three times deeper than the systems that were used in previous attempts were calculated. Since the earth's crust is 5-10 kilometers thick, Japanese scientists are going to carry out the drilling project in three stages: first, drill the ocean floor to a depth of about 4 kilometers, then go deeper for another 6 kilometers, and then the researchers will have the opportunity to take samples from the mantle.
It is reported that the initial test of the drilling rig will begin in September this year off the coast of Hawaii. Locations near Costa Rica and the coast of Mexico are being considered as alternative locations. Since the drilling system itself is still incomplete, it is not yet possible to say exactly when the actual drilling of the crust to the mantle will begin, however, according to Natsue Abe, one of the JAMSTEC researchers, 2030 will be the deadline for drilling.
Abe points out that this project has several goals at once. First, scientists hope to be able to study the mantle of our planet in order to improve the efficiency of forecasting seismic activity. And secondly, they want to better understand the early geological history of the Earth, about which rock samples can tell.
“We do not yet know the exact composition of the mantle. We saw only a few mantle materials - the rock is very beautiful, it is partly yellowish-green,”says Abe.
It is also interesting because, in earlier attempts at drilling, scientists were able to detect the presence of life much deeper than expected.
“How deep can life exist on Earth?” Abe asks.
We will most likely learn much more about this project in September. Now researchers are analyzing the estimated cost of the project as a whole and figuring out what new technologies may be needed in the development. Japanese news outlets report that the Japanese government has agreed to finance part of the project.
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NIKOLAY KHIZHNYAK
