How much deep can humans dig into the earth and explore the things in it? This question has fascinated many travelers scientitsts and explorers.Despite the fact that human has entered space amd explored many planets of universe but still digging deep into the earth is totally different task.
In late 20th century scientists made an attempt to answer this question and they conducted an experiment_the "Kola Superdeep Borehole".
What was discovered by them under the earth was both fascinating and unexpected.
THE MISSION:
The Kola superdeep Borehole project started in 1970 in Soviet Union. The goal was simple but still it was ground breaking. The main goal was to dig deep into the earth as much as possible.
Typical drilling projects are usually aimed at finding oil and gas but this mission was totally a scientific research.
The researchers wanted to understand the structure of earth's crust,its composition, temperature, and the processes that are happening below the surface.
After a hard work of many years the team succeeded in drilling down to a fascinating depth of 12,262 meters (about 12.2 kilometers). This means that the hole was much deeper than Mount Everest's height.
Even today it is considered to be the deepest artificial hole dug by humans.
UNEXPECTED HEAT FROM BELOW:
The biggest surprise scientists noticed was the extremely high temperature.
Scientists predicted that the temperature underground would be high but it would be manageable. However when they drilled deeper they experienced the temperatures much high then their expectation.
At 12 kilometers deep , the temperature was 180°C which is equal 356°F and was noted to be much hotter than predicted by scientists.At such high temperature the rocks became plastic like which made further drilling difficult.
The intense heat is one of the main reasons why the project could not continue much deeper. The equipment could not tolerate such extreme conditions.
WIERD DISCOVERIES UNDERGROUND:
The Kola Superdeep Borehole not only just revealed heat . It also revealed surprising geological findings.
1.WATER:
Scientists discovered water deep within the Earth's crust which was trapped in minerals. This was unexpected for scientists because it was believed that water could not exist at such deep part.
2.MICROSCOPIC FOSSILS:
Scientists also discovered microscopic fossils of ancient organisms. These fossils were over 2 billion years old which suggests that life may have existed many many years ago and in a way which scientists have not understood.
COMPOSITION OF CRUST:
The drilling also challenged existing theories about the structure of earth. Scientists were expecting to find a clear boundary between different layer of rocks but they found a more complex compostition.
THE SOUNDS FROM HELL MYSTERY:
The most mysterious and controversial story from this mission is "sounds from hell".
According to the most popular rumor, scientists entered a microphone into the hole and they recorded terrifying sounds like human screams.This story went viral and this added a mystery to this research.
However there is no scientific evidence to support this claim.Most of the experts believe that this was a misunderstanding or may be a fictional story which became popular in world.
WHY THIS PROJECT WAS STOPPED?
Despite the amazing success of project Kola Superdeep Borehole, it was eventually stopped in 1992
There were many reasons behind this:
● Extremely high temperatures made further drilling nearly impossible.
● There were technical limitations of equipments which made this impossible to continue the project.
● High costs were required to continue this project
● The collapse of the soviet union also played an important role because funding was stopped.
Evetually the site of hole was abandoned and now it remains sealed. Today it is largerly forgotten and is hidden in remote part of Russia.
WHY SCIENTISTS DIDN'T DIG DEEPER?
You might think that if scientists can send rockets into space then why they are not able to dig deeper into the Earth?
The answer is:
● Heat increases rapidly with depth
● Pressure increases with depth
● Rocks become soft and unstable.
●Drilling equipments have several limitations.
In many prospects exploring deep into the ground is more difficult than exploring space.
NEW DISCOVERIES FROM THIS PROJECT:
Even though the Kola Superdeep Borehole project was stopped but still it helped scientists:
● Better understand the Earth's crust.
● Discover unexpected water sources
● Learn about ancient lifes
● Improve drilling technology.
In conclusion we can say that this project uncovered many things which were not previously known to science. This story Kola Superdeep Borehole is powerful reminder of human curosity and determination. This tells us that humans can do anything with determination.
It also reminds us that when we are looking up into sky to see and discover stars the mysteries are hidden right below us. The deepest hole dug by humans has not reached the centre of the Earth, but it opened many things before the world.
And this discovery gives humans a motivation that one day with modern technology and new amazing ideas they will be able to dig even deeper.
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