Chinese checkers
In a world marked by shifting geopolitical tides, the once prevailing Western naivety towards China is undergoing a significant transformation.
The Kola Superdeep Borehole is the deepest artificial point dug up by Russians on the earth’s surface, Chinese engineers want to go beyond that. Researchers say the Kola bore could have been dug as deep as 9 miles or 14.4 kms. But they had to abandon it there due to unusually high temperatures.
Even as we write, the Kola Superdeep Borehole, the hole which is eight times deeper than the Mariana Trench and has been dug up to 7.5 miles (or 12,262 meters) below earth’s surface, the Chinese army of explorers are drilling China’s deepest ever borehole in the Xinjiang region which is oil-rich. Will they surpass the Kola Super deep hole, only time will tell.
Why a superdeep borehole
It is a scientific drilling project of the Soviet Union that began in the Pechengsky district. Pechengsky is very close to the boundary that Russia shares with Norway. They tried to drill as far into the crust of the earth as possible.
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The Uralmash-4E drilling rigs began on May 24, 1970 and later the Uralmash-15000 series drilling rigs started somewhere in 1979.
The deepest hole was reached at 12,262 metres (40,230 ft; 7.619 miles) in 1989. It is still by far the deepest of the holes made by a man till now.
The aim was to dig as deep as one could dig. Researchers wanted to go as deep as 9 miles. But, when the drillers encountered an unusually high temperature, they gave it up. The about 2.7 billion-year-old rocks located 7.5 miles below the surface of the earth have temperatures 180 degrees Celsius. The drillers and explorers thought it would be hot but not twice as hot.
In the course of time, the machinery used to drill started distorting in shape due to high temperatures. Also, the rocks had jelly-to-plastic flexibility. The researchers in Kola say that the stones at those depths are like plastic than rock.
Thus the Kola Superdeep Borehole is considered to be the deepest point on earth though artificially created. Also, this site is a favourite among tourists who throng the nearby places. Now all eyes are on China.
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