JewelFreak
Ideal_Rock
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2009
- Messages
- 7,768
From this month's National Geographic mag:
"Deep within the Earth lies lustrous green rock that holds the key to mysteries about the origins of our planet. It's part of a layer (the mantle) that makes up 84% of the Earth's volume. Bits of the rock, modified by heat and pressure, are spit from volcanoes and prized in polished form as the gem Peridot. But no one has ever laid eyes on fresh mantle peridotite. Now an international team aims to bore through Earth's crust to retrieve the first sample. 'Pristine mantle would be a geochemical treasure trove equivalent to the Apollo lunar rocks,' says the University of Southampton's Damon Teagle.
"Scientists are scouting spots off Costa Rica, Baja California, and Hawaii for the best site to drill. There, sediments are thin, and the mantle is cool enough to core. But the sea floor is some 2.5 miles down, making drilling operations deep even by oil industry standards. Reaching the target distance is now feasible with the Japanese Ship Chikyu, which can hold more than 6 miles of drill pipes. And drill bits withh tungsten carbide teeth are being refined to tackle ultrahard rocks that have ruined equipment in previous attempts. The big dig's set to start before decade's end."
"Deep within the Earth lies lustrous green rock that holds the key to mysteries about the origins of our planet. It's part of a layer (the mantle) that makes up 84% of the Earth's volume. Bits of the rock, modified by heat and pressure, are spit from volcanoes and prized in polished form as the gem Peridot. But no one has ever laid eyes on fresh mantle peridotite. Now an international team aims to bore through Earth's crust to retrieve the first sample. 'Pristine mantle would be a geochemical treasure trove equivalent to the Apollo lunar rocks,' says the University of Southampton's Damon Teagle.
"Scientists are scouting spots off Costa Rica, Baja California, and Hawaii for the best site to drill. There, sediments are thin, and the mantle is cool enough to core. But the sea floor is some 2.5 miles down, making drilling operations deep even by oil industry standards. Reaching the target distance is now feasible with the Japanese Ship Chikyu, which can hold more than 6 miles of drill pipes. And drill bits withh tungsten carbide teeth are being refined to tackle ultrahard rocks that have ruined equipment in previous attempts. The big dig's set to start before decade's end."
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