Hole Drilled to Bottom of Earth's Crust

Hole Drilled to Bottom of Earth's Crust 422

Posted by Zonk on Sunday April 10, 2005 @02:57PM from the vernsian dept.

AtariAmarok writes "A new article is up on LiveScience about a hole drilled into the Earth's crust to explore the layers of our planet's substrate. The hole gets closer to the mantle than any other efforts that have gone before. The hole might reach the "Moho" (division between Earth's brittle outer crust and the hotter, softer mantle) within a few years." From the article: "The depth of the Moho varies. This latest effort, which drilled 4,644 feet (1,416 meters) below the ocean seafloor, appears to have been 1,000 feet off to the side of where it needed to be to pierce the Moho, according to one reading of seismic data used to map the crust's varying thickness."

Hole Drilled to Bottom of Earth's Crust

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Mr President, Dr. Evil is on the line... (Score:5, Funny)

by TripMaster Monkey ( 862126 ) * writes: on Sunday April 10, 2005 @02:58PM (#12194890)

Good day, gentlemen...as you are no doubt aware, I have drilled a gigangtic hole straight through the Earth's crust. This hole will allow me to usher in a glorious new era of total world domination; for this reason, I have dubbed this latest caper "Operation Glory-Hole".

You see, gentleman, the bottom of this hole is only a scant 1000 feet away from the firey liquid mantle of the Earth itself...when I detonate a small nuclear device at the bottom of this hole, Operation Glory-Hole will create a gigantic super-volcano, radically altering the Earth's climate and laying waste to civilization...that is, unless you pay me...
ONE HUNDRED MILLION BILLION JILLION DOLLARS!!!

/dramaticmusic

Gentleman, you have my demands. Peace out.

Obl Friends quote: (Score:3, Funny)

by IainMH ( 176964 ) * writes: on Sunday April 10, 2005 @02:59PM (#12194900)

Check this baby out, dug me a hole!

--Joey Tribbiani

Yay! (Score:4, Funny)

by Anonymous Coward writes: on Sunday April 10, 2005 @03:00PM (#12194903)

I for one, welcome our moleman overlords.

How many... (Score:2, Funny)

by Anonymous Coward writes: on Sunday April 10, 2005 @03:02PM (#12194915)

So how many turns does it take to get to the center of the Earth? *crunch*

Grrrreat. Let's poke a big hole in the planet. (Score:5, Funny)

by itomato ( 91092 ) writes: on Sunday April 10, 2005 @03:02PM (#12194919)

There's no tampon made than could contain the leak that would create.

Bad Scientists! Bad!

Terraform: Construct Thermal Borehole (Score:5, Funny)

by Rob Simpson ( 533360 ) writes: on Sunday April 10, 2005 @03:03PM (#12194922)

+6 minerals
+6 energy
WARNING: Significant negative ecological impact

Great (Score:3, Funny)

by elid ( 672471 ) writes: <eli.ipod@[ ]il.com ['gma' in gap]> on Sunday April 10, 2005 @03:03PM (#12194927)

Dante would be proud

Re:First they pearce the crust... (Score:5, Funny)

by djdavetrouble ( 442175 ) writes: on Sunday April 10, 2005 @03:03PM (#12194929) Homepage

And then you come to the caramel lower mantle, then the delicious chocolate core.

Re:is it wise? (Score:2, Funny)

by viper432 ( 589797 ) writes: on Sunday April 10, 2005 @03:04PM (#12194933)

Like a volcano?

China (Score:5, Funny)

by Rylz ( 868268 ) writes: on Sunday April 10, 2005 @03:04PM (#12194934) Journal

Pfft. I nearly made it from my sandbox to China with nothing but buckets back in my preschool days!

Re:Mr President, Dr. Evil is on the line... (Score:5, Funny)

by Anonymous Coward writes: on Sunday April 10, 2005 @03:04PM (#12194936)

Dr. Evil is stealing my Moho baby!

On the drill head... (Score:3, Funny)

by CrackedButter ( 646746 ) writes: on Sunday April 10, 2005 @03:04PM (#12194939) Homepage Journal

...it says "Bruce Willis woz here".

Re:is it wise? (Score:5, Funny)

by Anonymous Coward writes: on Sunday April 10, 2005 @03:05PM (#12194947)

Yes, this is exactly what will happen. Just think of it like pricking a hole in a balloon, next thing you know we are 'ppttthhhhhhhhhh' on our way to Jupiter.

Re:is it wise? (Score:2, Funny)

by Daedalus_ ( 38808 ) writes: on Sunday April 10, 2005 @03:05PM (#12194948)

Yeah, we're screwed now.

Start working on your lava-boats everyone....

Re:Mr President, Dr. Evil is on the line... (Score:5, Funny)

by AtariAmarok ( 451306 ) writes: on Sunday April 10, 2005 @03:07PM (#12194958)

"Mr President, Dr. Evil is on the line"
Uhhh. Hi Dick. How ya doin'?'

Screw black-holes and grey goo... (Score:5, Funny)

by Pinkoir ( 666130 ) writes: on Sunday April 10, 2005 @03:07PM (#12194965)

...this Dr. Evil hole is the greatest threat that mad-science presents to us.

What happens if when they finally penetrate the crust the whole planet pops like a balloon?

LIKE A BALLOON!!

Think of all that crazy magma spewing out all over the place and our beloved globe zooming randomly all over the solar system before finally falling flacid and empty to the floor somewhere near Mars.

When will these insane "geologists" learn not to poke holes in our Mother Earth.

-Pinkoir

Soon We'll reach the underground Dero kingdom! (Score:3, Funny)

by Nova Express ( 100383 ) writes: <lawrenceperson@@@gmail...com> on Sunday April 10, 2005 @03:07PM (#12194966) Homepage Journal

Beware! Soon we'll drill down into the lair of the evil Dero (i.e., "Detrimental Robots"), who have been beaming their alien mind control rays at humanity throughout recorded history! Richard Shaver and Ray Palmer have revealed all! [jermainerogers.com] Stop while there's still time!

Comment removed (Score:2, Funny)

by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) writes: on Sunday April 10, 2005 @03:12PM (#12195010)

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Start drilling from the other side NOW... (Score:3, Funny)

by mmThe1 ( 213136 ) writes: on Sunday April 10, 2005 @03:16PM (#12195040) Homepage

Start drilling from the other side NOW...

Would be fun to enjoy the world's largest magnetic seasaw.

We're all gonna die!!! (Score:1, Funny)

by Anonymous Coward writes: on Sunday April 10, 2005 @03:18PM (#12195051)

Imagine that the Earth is a Pop Tart. The crust is analogous to the frosting on a Straberry Pop Tart. The mantle is much like the delicious gooey interior of the aforementioned Pop Tart. When the Earth's crust is breached, much like a Pop Tart left too long in a toaster [pmichaud.com], hot magma will shoot miles into the sky in all directions until the fire is extinguished, or all the Earth is consumed. Stop these mad scientists now!

Lack of judgement, but not the way you'd think.. (Score:2, Funny)

by proteonic ( 688830 ) writes: on Sunday April 10, 2005 @03:19PM (#12195061)

"Our incredibly expensive uber-drill has pierced through to the earth's mantle! Now let's get it home before the magma damages.. oh crap.."

Hole's Enemy (Score:5, Funny)

by Chubby_C ( 874060 ) writes: on Sunday April 10, 2005 @03:21PM (#12195077)

Don't forget the hole's only natural enemy is the pile

Re:Yay! (Score:5, Funny)

by DrLZRDMN ( 728996 ) writes: on Sunday April 10, 2005 @03:22PM (#12195084)

shouldn't that be underlords?

Re:Mr President, Dr. Evil is on the line... (Score:5, Funny)

by xs650 ( 741277 ) writes: on Sunday April 10, 2005 @03:26PM (#12195110)

Were you addressing Bush or Cheney?

Re:is it wise? HAWAII!! (Score:2, Funny)

by nazh ( 604234 ) writes: on Sunday April 10, 2005 @03:27PM (#12195114) Homepage Journal

So you say we can make HawaIII this way?

Re:is it wise? HAWAII!! (Score:5, Funny)

by Thunderstruck ( 210399 ) writes: on Sunday April 10, 2005 @03:30PM (#12195135)

The same way we got the Dakotas. We walked up to the natives and said hey, lets have a treaty...

Have they lowered a microphone down? (Score:1, Funny)

by Anonymous Coward writes: on Sunday April 10, 2005 @03:30PM (#12195136)

Surely they will hear the sounds of hell itself?

http://www.snopes.com/religion/wellhell.htm

Grammar Nazi new recruit? (Score:2, Funny)

by Anonymous Coward writes: on Sunday April 10, 2005 @03:31PM (#12195141)

"Oblgatory?" "Grammer?" No capitalization at the beginning of your sentence? No punctuation at the end of it?

I guess the Grammar Nazis have adopted the "Do as we say, not as we do" policy.

Re:First they pearce the crust... (Score:3, Funny)

by TedCheshireAcad ( 311748 ) writes: <ted AT fc DOT rit DOT edu> on Sunday April 10, 2005 @03:35PM (#12195177) Homepage

... then they reach the mantle? Did I get that right?

No...everyone knows we reach China before anything else.

Re:Yay! (Score:3, Funny)

by steeef ( 98372 ) writes: <steeef@@@gmail...com> on Sunday April 10, 2005 @03:40PM (#12195207)

Behold, the Underminer! I'm always beneath you, but nothing is beneath me! I hereby declare war on peace and happiness! Soon, all will tremble before me!

Re:First they pearce the crust... (Score:1, Funny)

by n3tfury ( 774147 ) writes: on Sunday April 10, 2005 @03:47PM (#12195260)

it's nougat, not chocolate core. >:E

Re:is it wise? (Score:2, Funny)

by mOdQuArK! ( 87332 ) writes: on Sunday April 10, 2005 @04:00PM (#12195332)

Yes, it's unfortunate that the earth is like a big balloon. Oh wait a minute, it's not. Never mind.

Re:Mr President, Dr. Evil is on the line... (Score:2, Funny)

by Feztaa ( 633745 ) writes: on Sunday April 10, 2005 @04:03PM (#12195343) Homepage

Powers: "Someone stole my moho!"

Re:Mr President, Dr. Evil is on the line... (Score:3, Funny)

by nmb3000 ( 741169 ) writes: on Sunday April 10, 2005 @04:04PM (#12195353) Journal

when I detonate a small nuclear device at the bottom of this hole, Operation Glory-Hole will create a gigantic super-volcano

Duh, no it won't. It will make the Earth's core start to spin faster. Didn't you watch that documentery about the Earth's core?

Wal-Mart and IKEA (Score:5, Funny)

by failedlogic ( 627314 ) writes: on Sunday April 10, 2005 @04:36PM (#12195524)

How long before Wal-Mart and/or IKEA uses drilling holes through the Earth to reduce supply-chain management costs. I envision, there could be a hole going from China to California and/or Seattle.

How much heat can those RFID tags resist anyways??!

Re:Mr President, Dr. Evil is on the line... (Score:2, Funny)

by Random832 ( 694525 ) writes: on Sunday April 10, 2005 @04:45PM (#12195575)

You mean this one? [poormojo.org]

Re:Mr President, Dr. Evil is on the line... (Score:5, Funny)

by MutantHamster ( 816782 ) writes: on Sunday April 10, 2005 @04:48PM (#12195595) Homepage

Sure, everyone's all excited about drilling a hole now, but as soon as they accidentally drill into the Earth's hollow interior [wikipedia.org] and drain the entire ocean, they'll be nothing but excuses.

Re:First they pearce the crust... (Score:2, Funny)

by Anonymous Coward writes: on Sunday April 10, 2005 @04:53PM (#12195631)

Holy crap - maybe they never thought of that - do you think someone should tell them?

Re:is it wise? (Score:3, Funny)

by The Archon V2.0 ( 782634 ) writes: on Sunday April 10, 2005 @05:16PM (#12195740)

Yeah, we're screwed now. Start working on your lava-boats everyone....
People? Boats? Endless seas of lava? Oh, great. If one person in Hollywood reads that, we're in trouble.
"Now in theaters: The sequel to smash hit Waterworld: Fireworld!"

Re:is it wise? (Score:2, Funny)

by jrauch ( 816192 ) writes: on Sunday April 10, 2005 @06:35PM (#12196116)

I wish I had some mod points, I think I just learned more about balloons than I ever thought possible

Re:Terraform: Construct Thermal Borehole (Score:3, Funny)

by Pxtl ( 151020 ) writes: on Sunday April 10, 2005 @06:45PM (#12196150) Homepage

Funny, I thought of a completely different game.

Yay! We've got moho mines now! I can start working on my BB and turn off the metal makers.

Moho or Soho? (Score:5, Funny)

by Easy2RememberNick ( 179395 ) writes: on Sunday April 10, 2005 @06:56PM (#12196202)

"Moho" (division between Earth's brittle outer crust and the hotter, softer mantle)

Not to be confused with Soho, NY where the bitchy upper crust and the hot artsy type meet.

Re:is it wise? (Score:3, Funny)

by smithmc ( 451373 ) * writes: on Sunday April 10, 2005 @07:00PM (#12196223) Journal

Yes, this is exactly what will happen. Just think of it like pricking a hole in a balloon, next thing you know we are 'ppttthhhhhhhhhh' on our way to Jupiter.

That's fine, as long as we don't try to land on Europa.

Yay! (Score:1, Funny)

by Anonymous Coward writes: on Sunday April 10, 2005 @09:44PM (#12197013)

I for one welcome our Jupterian overlords.

Re:Sounds from Hell (Score:1, Funny)

by Anonymous Coward writes: on Monday April 11, 2005 @01:44AM (#12198077)

Nah, those aren't the sounds from hell, that's just CowboyNeal when he was constipated one night. ;)

Re:First they pearce the crust... (Score:3, Funny)

by istartedi ( 132515 ) writes: on Monday April 11, 2005 @01:50AM (#12198099) Journal

No. It could be much worse. They could let the air out of the center of the earth, and it might pop. Even worse, it could jet around the solar system in wild arcs, making farting noises while all the other planets laugh and throw half-eaten cupcakes at eachother.

They might stop the earth's spin (Score:3, Funny)

by Deflatamouse! ( 132424 ) writes: on Monday April 11, 2005 @02:07AM (#12198149) Homepage Journal

Better watch out! Their experiments might stop the Earth's spin and we'll lose our magnetic fields!!!

Re:is it wise? (Score:1, Funny)

by Anonymous Coward writes: on Monday April 11, 2005 @05:40AM (#12198826)

The important thing is to drill the hole
on the upper side of the earth because
the lava is to heavy to flow out on this side.

But God help us if they drill a hole on the
lower side, this may empty the earth and
leave us with a fragile shell....

Re:Sounds from Hell (Score:2, Funny)

by sl4shd0rk ( 755837 ) writes: on Monday April 11, 2005 @07:40AM (#12199159)

I wonder if hell was pissed about their new skylight?

Re:Would it work? (Score:2, Funny)

by osmic234 ( 807261 ) writes: on Monday April 11, 2005 @08:31AM (#12199383)

The seismic (geophysical) moho is the most common definition (and the one I would use most regularly), but the petrological moho is a valid description as well. I'm informed that it's the

"transition from crustal plagioclase bearing rocks to plagioclase-free olivine and pyroxene rocks".

When you think about it the seismic discontinuity has to be attibutable to some actual physical change in the earth.

I was once on a geological field trip to Cyprus, which has been upthrust a lot, to the point where some old moho is visible at the surface. Having heard this I was hoping for a big outcrop with a nice clear line running through it, so I could stand with a foot on either side of the moho for a picture. Unfortunately it didn't quite look like that.

Not being a geologist I grabbed a few nice looking pieces of rock to take home for paper weights. Alas the cleaning staff at the hotel threw these out, thus stealing my moho. Ah well.

Re:Sounds from Hell (Score:2, Funny)

by Lu1g1 ( 530033 ) writes: on Monday April 11, 2005 @01:47PM (#12202687)

" This reminds me of the urban legend that makes the rounds about scientists drilling into the earth being startled by the sounds of hell emerging from the pipe. Complete with escaping bat or demon emerging from the pipe."

Ah, but that is not an urban legend, it is the storyline of doom IV

There may be more comments in this discussion. Without JavaScript enabled, you might want to turn on Classic Discussion System in your preferences instead.

Mr President, Dr. Evil is on the line... (Score:5, Funny)

Obl Friends quote: (Score:3, Funny)

Yay! (Score:4, Funny)

How many... (Score:2, Funny)

Grrrreat. Let's poke a big hole in the planet. (Score:5, Funny)

Terraform: Construct Thermal Borehole (Score:5, Funny)

Great (Score:3, Funny)

Re:First they pearce the crust... (Score:5, Funny)

Re:is it wise? (Score:2, Funny)

China (Score:5, Funny)

Re:Mr President, Dr. Evil is on the line... (Score:5, Funny)

On the drill head... (Score:3, Funny)

Re:is it wise? (Score:5, Funny)

Re:is it wise? (Score:2, Funny)

Re:Mr President, Dr. Evil is on the line... (Score:5, Funny)

Screw black-holes and grey goo... (Score:5, Funny)

Soon We'll reach the underground Dero kingdom! (Score:3, Funny)

Comment removed (Score:2, Funny)

Start drilling from the other side NOW... (Score:3, Funny)

We're all gonna die!!! (Score:1, Funny)

Lack of judgement, but not the way you'd think.. (Score:2, Funny)

Hole's Enemy (Score:5, Funny)

Re:Yay! (Score:5, Funny)

Re:Mr President, Dr. Evil is on the line... (Score:5, Funny)

Re:is it wise? HAWAII!! (Score:2, Funny)

Re:is it wise? HAWAII!! (Score:5, Funny)

Have they lowered a microphone down? (Score:1, Funny)

Grammar Nazi new recruit? (Score:2, Funny)

Re:First they pearce the crust... (Score:3, Funny)

Re:Yay! (Score:3, Funny)

Re:First they pearce the crust... (Score:1, Funny)

Re:is it wise? (Score:2, Funny)

Re:Mr President, Dr. Evil is on the line... (Score:2, Funny)

Re:Mr President, Dr. Evil is on the line... (Score:3, Funny)

Wal-Mart and IKEA (Score:5, Funny)

Re:Mr President, Dr. Evil is on the line... (Score:2, Funny)

Re:Mr President, Dr. Evil is on the line... (Score:5, Funny)

Re:First they pearce the crust... (Score:2, Funny)

Re:is it wise? (Score:3, Funny)

Re:is it wise? (Score:2, Funny)

Re:Terraform: Construct Thermal Borehole (Score:3, Funny)

Moho or Soho? (Score:5, Funny)

Re:is it wise? (Score:3, Funny)

Yay! (Score:1, Funny)

Re:Sounds from Hell (Score:1, Funny)

Re:First they pearce the crust... (Score:3, Funny)

They might stop the earth's spin (Score:3, Funny)

Re:is it wise? (Score:1, Funny)

Re:Sounds from Hell (Score:2, Funny)

Re:Would it work? (Score:2, Funny)

Re:Sounds from Hell (Score:2, Funny)

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