Boring Through The Earth's Crust

Over the course of the 1960s into the 80s, several interdisciplinary geoscientific research projects such as the Upper Mantle Project, the Geodynamics Project, and the Deep Sea Drilling Project, contributed significantly to a better understanding of the earth's structure and development. In the 1960s, several prominent research organizations such as the National Academy of Sciences and the Ministry of Geology of the USSR initiated exploratory programs that used deep drilling to study the internals of the Earth. The aim of the program was to develop a model of the Earth’s crust and upper mantle, as well as new methods for forecasting mineral deposits. It developed a fundamentally new technical approach to the study of the deep structure of the Earth’s crust and upper mantle, based on a combination of seismic depth-sensing, deep drilling data, and other geophysical and geochemical methods.
These studies resulted in technologies that advanced both super-deep drilling and geological logging, in boreholes over 10 km deep.
DRILLING
In cable-tool drilling each drop would transmit force through a series of heavy iron drilling columns known as strings, driving a variety of bits deep into the borehole. Rotary drills utilized a hollow drill stem, enabling broken rock debris to be circulated out of the borehole, along with mud, as the rotating drill bit cut deeper.
PROJECT MOHOLE
The project’s goal was to drill through the Earth’s crust to retrieve samples from the boundary between the earth's crust and the mantle, known as the Mohorovicic discontinuity or Moho. Planned as a multi-hole, three-phase project, it would ultimately achieve a drill depth of 183 meters under the pacific seafloor, at a depth of 3.6 km. Despite Project Mohole’s failure in achieving its intended purpose, it did show that deep-ocean drilling was a viable means of obtaining geological samples.
USSR'S RESPONSE
The Kola Superdeep Borehole had a target depth set at 15,000 meters, and in 1979, it had surpassed the 9,583-meter vertical depth record held by the Bertha Rogers hole, a failed oil-exploratory hole drilled in Washita County, Oklahoma, in 1974. By 1984, the Soviets had reached a depth of over 12,000 meters. Drilling would later restart from 7,000 meters. Finally, in 1989, after grinding through crystalline rock for more than half its journey, the drill bit reached a final reported depth of 12,262 meters, the deepest artificial point on Earth.
Though this fell short of the projected 1990 goal of 13,500 meters, drilling efforts continued despite technical challenges. However, in 1992, the target of 15,0000 meters was eventually deemed impossible after the temperatures at the hole’s bottom, previously expected to reach only 100 degrees C, was measured at over 180 degrees C. Ultimately, the dissolution of the Soviet Union led to the abandonment of the borehole in 1995. The Kola Superdeep Borehole was surpassed, in length only, by the slant drilled Al Shaheen oil well in Qatar, which extended 12,289 meters, though with a horizontal reach of 10,902 meters.
HOW IT WAS DRILLED
A 215mm diameter bit was rotated by a downhole turbine that was powered by the hydraulic pressure of ground-level mud pumps. A downhole instrument consisting of a generator, a pulsator, and a downhole measuring unit that measures the navigation and geophysical parameters were fitted to the drill. The pulsator converts the measured data into pressure pulses that propagate through the fluid barrel in the drilling tool and are received by pressure sensors at the surface. At the surface, the signal received by pressure sensors is sent to the receiving device, where it is amplified, filtered, and decoded for control and recording use.
The downhole instrument is powered by the generator, which uses the movement of flushing fluid as a power source.
WHAT WAS FOUND
Rock samples taken from the borehole exposed cycles of crust-building that brought igneous rock into the crust from the mantle below. Additionally, one of the primary objectives of the Kola well was to penetrate through the upper layer of granite into the underlying basaltic rock. Even more astonishing, was the discovery of a subterranean layer of marine deposits, almost 7,000 meters beneath the surface, that were dated at two billion years old, and contained the fossil traces of life from 24 different species of plankton.
Similar projects have taken place since the drilling of the Kola Superdeep borehole. One such notable example was the German Continental Deep Drilling Program, which was carried out between 1987 and 1995, reaching a depth of over 9,000 meters and using one of the largest derricks in the world. From this, the drilling project San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth or SOFAD was formed in 2002.
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[@seasong7655]

Love how this channel keeps drilling deep into interesting topics.

[@captainfactoid3867]

Nice pun

[@lantern-music]

What a boring comment

[@Wildminecraftwolf]

this belongs on a stock image website

[@landonsmith7629]

As a long time driller, I love this. Great info always laid out in a clean thought provoking manner. Thanks NewMind

[@abdulhalim6596]

The most critical and problem in deep drilling is BLOW OUT, the bottom hole overpressure that is exerted due to the massive overburden. This pressure can be prevented from blow out by running drilling fluid system which is made from mud + weighting agent. To keep the mud weight in consistent with the bore hole pressure so that blow out won't happen is the most important part of deep drilling. The weight of the mud must be havier as drill hole goes deeper. And the mud must be thick enough to hold the weighting agent floats in the drilling fluid. This requires a good stable (heat proof) viscosifier material (polymer) that can withstand high temperature at the bottom hole. When facing an HTHP ('high pressure high temperature) of the down hole we experienced a big problem to keep the drilling fluid in stable condition. Apparently we expected a BLOW OUT will occur when the viscosifier becomes degraded (loss its viscosity) by high temperature heating and the thinning of the mud will no longer able to hold the weighting agent afloat and further a sudden drop of mud weight will happen. Next when the mud no longer hold the bottom hole pressure, a massive blow out can't be avoided. I wonder what type of polymer is used that can withstand above boiling point temperature condition in 9km drilling those days, even today we haven't had yet. From Ex Drilling fluid engineer. Malaysia

[@UncleWermus]

Always a good day when New Mind uploads

[@alericwil]

Great unique presentation on a popular topic. I learned stuff that I'd never heard from loads of other channels. Nice work

[@nunyabusiness8538]

every single one of his videos are like this! amazin channel

[@rolandrivera3004]

@@nunyabusiness8538 a deep hole in the top of the mountain spot made by laser hit or by falling object from the sky particularly meteorites o bullet a zinc hole and a tube holer to explore something minerals and gas or testing of nuclear weapons etc human research of sources.

[@shaneej3095]

I worked on a drilling rig for most of my life and must say you did a good job explaining the process. Keep up the good work.

[@TheAhmet15]

I love your videos. You pack so much information into a short period of time and make things so clear. Keep up the great content!

[@fridaycaliforniaa236]

As a KSP player, I eventually understand what the "Mohole" name came from

[@levanthasis]

Thank You! Because this video was the first information bit I collided in trying to find from the net - almost in vain - information about working principle(s) of these Deep Earth's Crust DRILLS & BITS and HOW THEY ACTUALLY WORK IN PRACTICE. This video explained things, at least partly. So, THANK YOU once more for posting this very interesting video!

[@eSKAone-]

1:26 This is a mirrored image (look at Italy)

[@circusitch]

Maybe that’s how it looks from space. You know, with warping, and space time continuum stuff.

[@ferdinandkraft857]

Probably to avoid copyright detection.

[@aheadofthegame648]

@@ferdinandkraft857 Italy isn't copyrighted lmao.

[@eeeeeek]

all footage from nasa are public domain

[@aion2177]

What worries me is we infer all this info from only 1 hole. We should make 500 holes just as deep or deeper in other parts of the world to be sure we dont draw conclusions too quickly. Thanks for the video.

[@bharathch8304]

I need confirmation that I'm not hearing things.. 7:43 Use headphones?

[@maddmarkk1]

same

[@jerryhu9005]

A sharp click? Yup

[@maddmarkk1]

@@jerryhu9005 I thought it was an Easter egg but looking in audacity it's not

[@NewMind]

Hmmm. It’s not in my upload file. Must be a KZbin compression glitch. Hopefully it doesn’t summon demons when played in reverse.

[@3Black.1Red]

@@NewMind too late; am fighting off the legion of darkness. where's the doomguy when you need him...

[@kairon156]

very cool video. I've heard of a few attempts to dig deep but this is the first through overview I've seen on the different digging events.

[@GediMini]

One of the most interesting videos about rocks that I've seen today. great job!

[@lefr33man]

God dammit Marie, they're minerals!

[@michaelesposito2629]

Today? Lol how many videos do you watch about rocks every day?

[@surge3518]

I thought it was pretty boring. Lol

[@gargert1433]

amazing video, loved the whole thing

[@JohannY2]

Very interesting, thanks.

[@nerobernardino88]

This content sure isn't boring!

[@michaelmccarthy4615]

When religion is worried that you will discover hell.... You know to keep drilling

[@isaackay5887]

The essence of this comment is what drives me to continue learning as much as I can

[@tensevo]

Infinite heat energy supply.

[@wonderwang1585]

Full of deceased life of all kinds. Geologists included.

[@morkovija]

great piece of content bestowed upon us once again, thank you

[@altimmons]

The Perot nature museum in Dallas tx was 4 floors and one of the 4 floors was entirely devoted to drilling. On one hand I thought it was inappropriate. On the other, it was also fascinating, because you don’t often see how drilling is done. I think the museum in Houston had the same thing though less prominently. Oil was big in Texas as you might expect but it’s surprising to see how far it extends

[@awerellwv]

1:23 - 1:29 the image is flipped left to right

[@unvergebeneid]

Maybe it's Earth from a mirror universe. Now we only need to find out if they're the evil one or we are.

[@flamenballerG37]

Can you make a video of traffic engineering like signal timing/progression or on hydrology?

[@unknown-ql1fk]

Love the vids, keep them comming

[@waynep343]

Drilled into magma chamber in hawaii already. Nothing happened for years till a fissure erupted and almost deep sixed a large corner of the island. Drilling toward magma in the south east corner of the salton sea. And in central cal called the geysers.

[@clem2usa]

It’s been a while since I’ve watched. Killin’ it, dude! 💜💜

[@NewMind]

Thanks! Never going to forget my early supporters.

[@Mp57navy]

Nice footage from Iceland there. :P

[@philipmylan5075]

Everyone knows you can't dig lower than 64 blocks before you hit bedrock.

[@lawrencekimmel352]

They stopped drilling because they hit the void.

[@skeetum8943]

no, no, you can dig down more than 64 blocks before you hit bedrock. you can't go below y=1 i think.

[@shelby3347]

@@lawrencekimmel352 they didn’t stop drilling because they hit a void they were stuck at the same depth for 3 years and could make any further progress so it was abandoned same thing happened to the German bore site.

[@cosmicrider5898]

@@shelby3347 they hadnt yet figured out you need diamond tools to gather obsidian ...

[@shelby3347]

@@cosmicrider5898 so have they dug any deeper with this new knowledge ?? No. 3 decades and nothing.

[@joelbattig1175]

Im so early I dont know whats coming but since its new mind I know its gonna be great

[@mortkebab2849]

Geology totally rocks!

[@omarmirosm168]

Amazing Video thank you! can you have a video about mining rare earth metals? Also, your sound is quite muffled, so I had to raise the volume. Great work otherwise!!

[@polarbear1888]

Could these massive holes be used as some type of massively long geothermal energy tap?

[@K-Effect]

It seems like it would be easier to melt your way down through the earth instead of drilling through it. Use a modified version of an electrode that they use to melt and make iron/steel

[@obi-wankenobi9871]

There are currently multiple research projects looking into breaking concrete and rock with electric pulses

[@codingstudent3163]

Please please provide continuation of Evolution of CPU processing Power 🙏🙏🙏.

[@murtadha96]

Loving it! Thanks

[@lifelinerodz7703]

i hope you included geothermal energy,

[@K-Effect]

Could one guy get through life OK financially if he had one active oil well? How many barrels would you have to pull up a day to be worth messing with the well?

[@keithcorrigan658]

Well that was interesting! It wasn't half as boring as I thought it was going to be!😁😁😁😁😁

[@Lord_Magikarp]

Drill at Iceland where the oceanic crust is at its thinnest. Hopefully the heat gradient doesn't kill the equipment.

[@karhukivi]

It will. Iceland is on the mid-ocean spreading zone where magma is coming up as the plates separate.

[@undertow2142]

Kola bore hole -- Why didn't they pump water down to the substrate and the drill bit so they could go deeper. Was it collapsing? Furthermore, why not use a high pressure water jet cutter?

[@md4luckycharms]

The water will flash to steam before it gets to the bit after a certain point

[@karhukivi]

The temp rises at 30C per km and the rock pressure is nearly 3 times what it would be under water at the same depth. Rock begins to flow like plastic at 12km and squeezes the drill rods so drilling just becomes impossible.

[@dadsonworldwide3238]

It also ended artifact theory that helped close the book on the fossil record. We have it all in the csmbrian shell

[@ComputerAnarchy]

What if coolant was repeatedly pumped into the hole? Even if it is just water, that would help exchange some heat away from the bore point.

[@notschki862]

yes

[@raytrevor1]

3:59 The Moho project achieved a depth of only 183 metres below the sea floor?

[@chillwill1083]

Know this is gonna be good!

[@moisesisairocha]

It is personally difficult to understand most of what he explains but I feel smarter just listening to it.

[@ZE0XE0]

>watching this video while I do geophysics homework

[@farof1289]

So if the earth is flat, if we keep boring, we will fall into the space?

[@SahasaV]

...No, you'd hit bedrock, duh.

[@pasticcinideliziosi1259]

no, for that you just have to jump in australia

[@cykacat4196]

no because the earth is infinitely thick and thin. so you can actually not, theoretically bore trough the whole thing.

[@jeffchoi]

You'd hurt the turtle that we're on flying through space

[@johnuferbach9166]

@@jeffchoi Poor A'Tuin :o

[@coletownsend9898]

G always ends everything?

[@kingkimo9519]

In the top of my feed 👌

[@xmaswitguns]

Your channel is History Channel 2.0

[@omnipotent1992]

So the drill also computes analogue

[@JakeTheBear1]

Wow that's an unusual outro...

[@jesusfreakpl]

Boring Through The Earth's Crust is still less boring than this video

[@halonothing1]

lol I always thought the story of them drilling into hell was related to some oil drilling or some other drilling experiment since I knew the Kola Peninsula is nowhere near Siberia. So that story always confused the hell out of me before I became more educated and stopped believing in the paranormal. Though I admit I still LOVE a good paranormal story. But in the same sense that one can enjoy a fictional anecdote or something. You know it's not real, but it's fun and interesting to consider anyways.

[@TimPerfetto]

Oh Elan Must would love boring thorough things he is such a genius he has invented um... something not sure but he has a tunnel boring machine and he used it to bore a tunnel so he is amazing omggg

[@hosmjrshinh2675]

Trust me Your channel will grow fast⚡

[@Phil-D83]

Can a laser be used to burn down further?

[@karhukivi]

The answer is no. Vaporizing rock uses a huge amount of thermal energy and the vapour will condense and solidify as the drill progresses, blocking progress. Mechanical drilling is way more efficient but has a limit as rock pressure and temperature rise, about 4 or 5 km. The record hole was 12 km in the Kola Peninsula.

[@Phil-D83]

@@karhukivi sorry for the silly question. I recall same as a plot drvice somewhere. Good to know its nonsense. Hehe

[@BenNeedsATheme4aDream]

Pretty crazy. Those huge pipes would have been a task to build around the 1950s! So much of resources must have been exploited for it. Numerous projects might have failed...I guess that's the price the earth has to pay for mankind's 'progress'.

[@miranda9691]

I think its a good price if we dont fuck around and waste it

[@eddydogleg]

They manufacture thousands of kilometres of pipe in a year, pipelines, casing, even back in the 50's. The video didn't say what size of hole they were drilling that they lost 5,000m of drill pipe but if we assume it was 101.6mm (4") 20.8kg/m drill pipe then 104,000kg was abandon. World production of steel in 1950 was ~200,000,000,000kg.

[@GoldSrc_]

Please, don't use software video stabilization, it makes some of the footage wobble as if it was made of jello.

[@thenewadventuresofhenry6998]

Get that Unobtanium!

[@Gusto20000]

1:27 - mirrored Earth

[@srpenguinbr]

hum... no? Italy is right

[@Gusto20000]

@@srpenguinbr so, how often do you try to put left shoe on the right foot?

[@srpenguinbr]

@@Gusto20000 do you think the imagine or the rotation is inverted?

[@Gusto20000]

@@srpenguinbr the image is mirrored, there are tens of others in comments that noticed the same

[@srpenguinbr]

@@Gusto20000 oh yes, now I noticed it bruh

[@LarryPeteet]

Is Plate Tectonics just a Theory? I learned it as a kid and I am 72 now in 2022.

[@sovietshnuckums2357]

Is plate tectonics really a theory at this point? Its literally the reason mountains and earthquakes happen!

[@michaelmccarthy4615]

The earths crust.... The final earthly frontier....

[@kernelist1]

who on earth who get so bored then boring through the earth

[@ichbinein123]

*"What Always Ends Everything?"* :thinking_emoji:

[@muaddib7037]

entropy?

[@ballsrgrossnugly]

Real Answer: kzbin.info/www/bejne/j5XHqJ6Df6xkgNE

[@hmshood9212]

Entropy

[@adfaklsdjf]

I like new mind and am sort of interested in being a guinea pig, but I'm a "social media" abstainer... no FB/Insta/etc for me. My loss, I guess..

[@jonnupe1645]

This reminds me of Earth scrappers (inverted sky scrappers)

[@Tiniuc]

Now they just need laser drills.

[@lukahutinski9075]

I think everybody with a backyard and a showel wanted to dig a hole all the way to china. Now that i know abi how industry works i still think about big earthmuving projects. I dont like drilling because it is expensive, high tech, heat sensitive. Digging is better, even if the volume of material is much more of an issue.

[@michaelesposito2629]

I wonder where the idea of China came from, and why every kid came up with the same theory. And boy, if only we knew just how much we shouldn’t want to end up in China....

[@crazystuffproduction]

I'd love to build a huge tunnel like city thats underground, you could have personal farms on like another level

[@theobserver9131]

Apparently it's unusual to watch a whole video? Many youtube creators comment near the end, congratulating viewers for having an attention span... Sort of a sad sign of the times? It is true though. Many of the people I know get glassy eyed after more than 5 seconds when I attempt to communicate with them. If I really need to have a conversation with them, I have to text them even if they're right next to me. Maybe I need to paint my skin with electroluminescent paint.....with emojis dancing on my forehead.

[@the_primal_instinct]

Fools! You've awoken me too soon!

[@thorvaldspear]

bet

[@aidaneloff5357]

Why drill these deep holes when you’re just going to hit bedrock. You can’t break it in survival mode

[@einname9986]

maybe they've found a glitch/bug to be able to break it?

[@thomasforsthuber2189]

SciCraft would disagree

[@toddlerj102]

Okay, yeah I like the vids.

[@citizenblue]

We will never reach the mantle

[@combin8or]

Do you use Nurd Rage’s voice modifier? No complaints here- great presentations as always. Edit after watching the whole thing: Totally fascinating and thank you.

[@tom23421]

Russia drilled into hell? What is this? Dwarf Fortress? Did they atleast get some adamantium?

[@FortuneZer0]

Well. Technicaly it was the soviets and the soviets no longer exist. Make with that what you will.

[@d3vitron779]

Praise the miners!

[@kurdaitcha5806]

@@FortuneZer0 Soviet was a political thing, they were still Russians.

[@monkeyplayer1]

Wooder (water) I heard. Where are you from?

[@PlittHD]

I zoned out distracted after a few minutes and started listening again at 10:23 and was very confused at first

[@shaneej3095]

Subscription earned

[@TheGamr81]

I 💛 hole! Great vid

[@mortkebab2849]

The Earth is a pie: crunchy, flaky crust and hot and spicy interior. Yum.

[@ferdinandkraft857]

But pies are _flat_... Illuminati confirmed!

[@altimmons]

Look at the sick natural tree bridge at 11:28

[@fickleborn5314]

epic

[@thecommentary21]

This was supposed to be about bore holes. I didnt come here to be politically indoctrinated on history of the earth's geology.

[@gacherumburu9958]

👍👌

[@kgrimes78]

I found “competitive spirit of the cold war” to be a funny comment

[@charlesballiet7074]

time to dig to agartha....

[@SMGJohn]

LOL imagine if the story about them drilling into hell is genuinely real, that be freaky as fuck.

[@lukerowe63]

why would they not use, or partially use, directed/shaped explosives?

[@FelonyVideos]

It's the temperatures that prevent us from going deeper.

[@freemind..]

Felony Videos - That's what we're told, but it's not true. The thermal gradient was higher than expected at the Kola and KTB holes, but that's because they were drilled on faults. The idea that there is a continual thermal increase from the surface to the core is based on fallacy. Consider this - The Long Valley, CA borehole was drilled to tap into a magma chamber for geothermal energy. The first 6,500 feet rendered temperatures of only 100° C, well below expectations, but the next 3,300 feet really confused the geologists when they observed that the temperature DID NOT INCREASE AT ALL! Why not?? Increased heat with depth inside mines is accepted as proof of the Earth's interior heat gradient. But, why do deep cave systems tend to get COLDER with depth? What's the difference?? The oceanic crust is only 1/6 as thick as continental crust on average. If heat can emanate up through 30 kilometers of continental crust, why does it not radiate through 5 kilometers of thin oceanic crust, thereby creating at least a moderate positive gradient toward the ocean floor? If rock at 12km is so hot as to be ductile, how do we have deep earthquakes at 650km into the mantle?? Earthquakes are the fracturing (and shifting) of BRITTLE materials, but brittle materials shouldn't exist at such depths with such supposed temperatures... yet they are an accepted fact of seismology. The explanation for all these mysteries??? The 'science' is wrong.

[@FelonyVideos]

@@freemind.. Well, I didn't say the temps increase linearly, or that every place on earth has the same characteristics. All I can tell you is that it is hot as hell at 5 miles deep, almost anywhere you drill. I know, because my instruments have come back with the solder melted.

[@FelonyVideos]

@@freemind.. As far as deep earthquakes, I don't think science understands that at all. There is also a theory that the planet is actually expanding...

[@freemind..]

@@FelonyVideos - Well, my point is that they give us inferences as though they are proven fact, but it has happened so much that we now have a framework for several major things that are completely wrong. The magnetic field mechanism is a glaring example. It is not generated at the core, but rather in the crust. 95% of the crustal minerals are crystalline and piezoelectric in nature. When they receive mechanical stress, they produce a piezoelectric charge. The tidal influence continually exerted on the landmasses by the Moon and the Sun produce that constant stress along thousands of fault lines worldwide, which in turn produces a magnetic field. Any celestial body with a magnetic field will be receiving tidal influence from another large body. Venus has no moon, and therefore no magnetic field. Mars has 2 small insignificant moons that produce no tidal pull.. thus, no magnetic field. Mercury has no moon, but is close enough to receive tidal influence directly from the Sun, and has a small magnetic field. Jupiter has been thought to lack a solid surface, but a rocky, quartz-based crust is a prerequisite.. so don't be surprised when we finally develop a way to see past the thick atmosphere, and find a rocky crustal surface. The meteorite impacts witnessed by all several years ago left sustained heat signatures that can have only have lasted so long if they impacted something solid.

[@freemind..]

The reason the Long Valley borehole didn't keep getting hotter is because it wasn't drilled on or near a fault. Faults produce their own heat by frictional ground movement. This is also why mines get hotter with depth while cave systems get colder. Mines are almost always the end-points of faults/ diatremes because the things we are interested in mining require the high temps and pressures found there. Caves, by contrast, are not usually associated with faults, and do not generate their own heat. Sorry to vomit all this out there at once. It's just frustrating seeing everyone believe things that are untrue, but have been pushed as though they are correct.

[@mandarin1257]

What a boring video lol. But seriously, really interesting, thanks.

[@AboveEmAllProduction]

Y

[@columnarbasalt4677]

Y not

[@TheCymbalProject]

This boring video is interesting.... I'll show myself out...

[@tylerdrummond4609]

I don't know about you guys, but seeing that oil poured halft into the whole and half onto the lip bugged the shit out of me!!! Get a Damn funnel lol

[@ballsrgrossnugly]

True story: I used to drive past a place all the time when driving to jobs a few years back, that had a huge sign out the front that said in big, bold letters: WATER BORING I always wanted to graffiti that sign so it read: WATER BORING DRINK MILK INSTEAD Never had the guts though... never had the guts...

[@steveabcdef7165]

Hint: funnel

[@afgor1088]

"YoU cAnT haVe InNoVatiOn WiThoUt CapItalISM" meanwhile in the USSR: