Why is China digging a 10-km-deep hole into Earth’s crust?
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Why is China digging a 10-km-deep hole into Earth’s crust?
Subject : Geography
Section: Physical geography
Context:
- China has embarked on an ambitious endeavour to dig a 10-kilometre-deep hole into the Earth’s crust as part of its exploration efforts with the aim to reach rocks from the Cretaceous Period, the layer known as the Cretaceous System, which dates back up to 145 million years.
Details:
- The project is taking place in the Tarim Basin of Xinjiang province.
- The excavation is located in the challenging environment of the Taklimakan Desert, China’s largest desert.
- The project will fetch the information about:
- The evolution of landscapes,
- Climate change, and
- The distribution of life
- The project will allow the scientists to identify and date significant events such as:
- Volcanic eruptions,
- Earthquakes,
- Shifts in climate,
- Study ancient life forms
Deepest hole dug by human:
- The deepest man-made hole on Earth is held by the Kola Superdeep Borehole in Russia, which reached a depth of 12,262 meters.
- The Kola project was aimed to study the Earth’s crust and mantle.
- The digging was stopped in 1992 when the temperature reached 1800C.
- Apart from Russia and China, the US and Germany have also previously tried digging into the Earth’s crust but weren’t able to finish the project because of the increasingly unbearable temperature and lack of funds.
