Kola Superdeep Borehole, commemorated on the 1987 USSR stamp

The Kola Superdeep Borehole (KSDB) was the result of a scientific drilling project of the former USSR. The project attempted to drill as deep as possible into the Earth's crust. Drilling began on May 24, 1970 on the Kola Peninsula, using an "Uralmash-4E" and later an "Uralmash-15000" drilling device. A number of boreholes were drilled by branching from a central hole. The deepest, SG-3, was completed in 1989, creating a hole 12,262 metres (7.6 mi) deep ^[1], the deepest hole ever made by humans. Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 420 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (560 × 800 pixel, file size: 109 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 420 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (560 × 800 pixel, file size: 109 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... Scientific drilling is a way to probe down into the Earth, allowing scientists and students to obtain samples of sediments, crust, and upper mantle. ... Earth cutaway from core to exosphere. ... is the 144th day of the year (145th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1970 ([[Rf 1970 == January 1 - The Unix epoch begins at 00:00:00 UTC January 2 - The last studio performance of The Beatles oman numerals|MCMLXX]]) was a common year starting on Thursday (link shows full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Location of Kola south of the Barents Sea. ... Water borehole in northern Uganda A borehole is a deep and narrow shaft in the ground used for abstraction of fluid or gas reserves below the earths surface. ... This article is about the unit of length. ... “Miles” redirects here. ...

Drilling

The project was first proposed in 1962 and was assigned to the Interdepartmental Scientific Council for the Study of the Earth's Interior and Superdeep Drilling (Russian: Межведомственный научный совет по проблемам изучения недр Земли и сверхглубокого бурения). The drill site was chosen in 1965 in north-west Soviet Union, 10 kilometres (6 mi) west of the town of Zapolyarny, at approximately 69°25′N, 30°44′E Zapolyarny (Russian: ) is a town in Pechengsky District of Murmansk Oblast, Russia. ...

The initial target depth was set at 15,000 metres (49,210 ft). On June 6, 1979, the world depth record held by the Bertha Rogers hole in Washita County, Oklahoma (9,583 metres (31,440 ft))^[2] was broken. In 1983, the drill passed the 12,000 metres (39,370 ft) level and stopped drilling for about a year to celebrate the event.^[3] This idle period may have contributed to a disappointing break-down on September 27, 1984: after drilling 12,066 metres (39,587 ft) down, 5,000 metres (16,400 ft) of boring pipes tore off and were left in the earth. It was decided to drill again from 7,000 metres (22,970 ft)^[3]. The hole reached 12,262 metres (40,230 ft) deep in 1989. In that year the hole depth was expected to reach 13,500 metres (44,290 ft) by the end of 1990 and 15,000 metres (49,210 ft) by 1993^[4]. However, due to higher than expected temperatures at this depth and location, 180 °C (356 °F) instead of expected 100 °C (212 °F), drilling deeper was deemed unfeasible and the drilling was stopped in 1992.^[3] With the expected further increase in temperature with increasing depth, drilling to 15,000 metres (49,210 ft) would have meant working at a projected 300 °C (572 °F), at which the drill bit would no longer work. is the 157th day of the year (158th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Also: 1979 by Smashing Pumpkins. ... Washita County is a county located in the state of Oklahoma. ... Official language(s) None Capital Oklahoma City Largest city Oklahoma City Largest metro area Oklahoma City metro area Area  Ranked 20th  - Total 69,898 sq mi (181,196 km²)  - Width 230 miles (370 km)  - Length 298 miles (480 km)  - % water 1. ... is the 270th day of the year (271st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the year. ...

Research

The Kola borehole penetrated about a third through the Baltic continental crust, presumed to be around 35 kilometres (22 mi) thick, exposing rocks 2.7 billion years old at the bottom. The project has been a site of extensive geophysical studies. The stated areas of study were the deep structure of the Baltic Shield; seismic discontinuities and the thermal regime in the Earth's crust; the physical and chemical composition of the deep crust and the transition from upper to lower crust; lithospheric geophysics; and to create and develop technologies for deep geophysical study. The thickness of the Earths crust (km). ... ‹ The template below has been proposed for deletion. ... The Baltic Shield (or Fennoscandian Shield) is a segment of the Earths crust belonging to the East European Craton, representing a large part of Fennoscandia, northwestern Russia and the northern Baltic Sea. ... Seismology (from the Greek seismos = earthquake and logos = word) is the scientific study of earthquakes and the movement of waves through the Earth. ...

To scientists, one of the more fascinating findings to emerge from this well is that the change in seismic velocities was not found at a boundary marking Jeffreys' hypothetical transition from granite to basalt; it was at the bottom of a layer of metamorphic rock that extended from about 5 to 10 kilometers beneath the surface. The rock there had been thoroughly fractured and was saturated with water, which was surprising. This water, which unlike surface water must have come from deep-crust minerals, had been unable to reach the surface because of a layer of impermeable rock. For other uses, see granite (disambiguation). ... For the cities, see Basalt, Colorado and Basalt, Idaho. ... Quartzite, a form of metamorphic rock, from the Museum of Geology at University of Tartu collection. ... This page is a candidate to be moved to Wiktionary. ...

Another unexpected discovery was the large quantity of hydrogen gas, with the mud flowing out of the hole described as "boiling" with hydrogen. ^[5] General Name, Symbol, Number hydrogen, H, 1 Chemical series nonmetals Group, Period, Block 1, 1, s Appearance colorless Atomic mass 1. ...

Current status

The site is currently controlled by the State Scientific Enterprise on Superdeep Drilling and Complex Investigations in the Earth's Interior (GNPP Nedra) as the Deep Geolaboratory. The currently active deepest bore is SG-5, it is 8,578 metres (28,143 ft) deep and 214 millimetres (8.425 in) in diameter. 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, and also: The International Year of Freshwater The European Disability Year Events January events January 1 Luíz Inácio Lula Da Silva becomes the 37th President of Brazil. ... A millimetre (American spelling: millimeter, symbol mm) is an SI unit of length that is equal to one thousandth of a metre. ... An inch (plural: inches; symbol or abbreviation: in or, sometimes, ″ - a double prime) is the name of a unit of length in a number of different systems, including English units, Imperial units, and United States customary units. ...

Other projects

The United States embarked on a similar project in 1957, dubbed Project Mohole, which was intended to penetrate the shallow crust under the Pacific Ocean off Mexico. However, after some initial drilling, the project was abandoned in 1966 due to lack of funding. This "failure" inspired great successes of the Deep Sea Drilling Project, Ocean Drilling Program, and the present Integrated Ocean Drilling Program. CUSS I CUSS I Underseas beacons for positioning by sonar. ... The Deep Sea Drilling Program (DSDP) was an ocean drilling project running from 1968 to 1983. ... The Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) was an ocean drilling effort by the National Science Foundation from 1983 to 2003. ... The Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) is an international research program whose goal is to explore the structure of the Earth as recorded in oceanic sediments and rocks. ...

Well to Hell legend

For more details on this topic, see Well to Hell hoax.

This deep borehole was the inspiration for urban legends involving drilling to Hell. The Well to hell hoax is a popular urban legend that has been circulating on the internet for over ten years. ... An urban legend or urban myth is similar to a modern folklore consisting of stories often thought to be factual by those circulating them. ... The Inferno redirects here. ...

References

1. ^ Kola Superdeep Borehole (KSDB). ICDP - Information Network. Retrieved on July 14, 2006.
2. ^ The KTB Borehole—Germany’s Superdeep Telescope into the Earth’s Crust. Oilfield Review. Retrieved on July 14, 2006.
3. ^ ^{a b c} Legendary Kola Superdeep, Nauka i Zhizn, 2002, no. 5 (Russian)
4. ^ Kola Superdeep is in the Guinness Book of World Records, Zemlya i Vselennaya, 1989, no. 3, p.9 (Russian)
5. ^ G.J. MacDonald (1988). "Major Questions About Deep Continental Structures". A. Bodén and K.G. Eriksson Deep drilling in crystalline bedrock, v. 1: 28-48, Berlin: Springer-Verlag. ISBN 3-540-18995-5. 

is the 195th day of the year (196th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 195th day of the year (196th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Nauka i Zhizn (Science and Life, Russian: ) was a science magazine issued during 1890-1900 in Imperial Russia, since 1934 in Soviet Union and continued in Russian Federation. ...

External links

• Official Kola Superdeep Borehole website
• The World's Deepest Hole - Alaska Science Forum - July 1985
• A List of the World's Deepest Man-Made Holes
• The Deepest Hole June 20, 2006
• Maps