Prompt Cast
The Kola Superdeep Borehole: Unveiling the Secrets of the Earth's Crust
TLDR The Kola Superdeep Borehole, drilled by scientists in the Soviet Union, revealed unexpected discoveries such as helium, hydrogen, carbon dioxide, fossils, and evidence of microbial life below the Earth's surface. Despite facing challenges and ending due to lack of funding, the project led to the development of new drilling techniques and the possibility of future exploration.
Timestamped Summary
00:00
Scientists in the Soviet Union drilled the deepest hole in the world, the Kola Superdeep Bohol, just to see what they could find, and they found quite a lot.
01:18
The Earth's crust is thin and makes up less than 1% of the volume of the Earth, with the mantle being the majority and the core in the middle, and scientists wanted to drill to the boundary between the crust and the mantle, known as the moho layer.
02:32
In 1961, the United States attempted to drill through the Earth's crust but only managed to reach a depth of 183 meters below the sea floor, while the Soviets started their drilling project in 1970 and faced challenges drilling through solid granite.
03:44
The Soviets drilled to a maximum depth of 12,262 meters and discovered more water and gas than expected, including helium.
04:57
The Soviets discovered helium, hydrogen, carbon dioxide, fossils, and a lack of basalt during their drilling, which confirmed the existence of microbial and microscopic life below the Earth's surface.
06:11
The Kola Superdeep borehole project ended in the early 90s due to a lack of funding, and today the drilling facility is in ruins, but the Soviets developed new drilling techniques that are now used worldwide.
07:23
In the future, it's possible that a deeper hole could be created, but drilling becomes nearly impossible once certain temperatures are reached.
