madness! Scientists plan to drill all the way down to the Earth's mantle

Originally posted by oou420
Unless the hole is in a deliberately chosen bad spot it will not cause any cataclysmic damage even in the worst case scenario. I'm somewhat qualified to know this, taking earth sciences in university. It's ust a huge waste of money, when it could be spent on other, more useful things.

which is the reason for the main frustration

not so much `were all going to die`

but what a stupid idea and waste of time / money

reply to post by littlezeta


I didn't see it as offensive, just someone who doesn't seem to see things the way we do so I wanted to give them an idea as to why I felt the way I do.


No harm




Cute avy, I had that as an avy for a while but I made my alien pink

reply to post by jude11


But you don't die or even get sick (unless it's infected) from a needle sting. I will use a loose analogy and say that the crust is the skin, and the mantle is where the "blood" resides. When we use a needle on the human body it's often to inject or draw material such as blood for analysis. They want to do that.

I'm just saying, we've done worse things (and continue to do so) such as drilling for oil in dangerous areas such as oceans. Although oil leaks won't destroy the Earth, it harms the biosphere. I doubt the scientific personnel that are planning on drilling to the mantle are on a bid for world destruction. They will be very careful and bureaucratic about it. Heck they aren't even gonna start drilling until 2018 apparently. You should start worrying when petroleum companies want in on this.

reply to post by mblahnikluver


Yeah I saw the video, but sadly with everything that we don't experience or know ourselves, we have to take someone elses word for it.




reply to post by littlezeta


While I understand your worry, there have been perceived exaggerated risks with every technological development and discovery we have had. When the nuclear bomb was made some thought the world would blow up from one single bomb used in testing because of a perceived chain-reaction. (Though i'd say this is not a good example in spirit as these were used for killing purposes)

Originally posted by mblahnikluver
Earth is NOT a toy!


Why do they always insist on messing with things they know nothing about?

Seriously? If the human race had always had that attitude, where exactly would we be?

I was listening to this on npr's science friday with facination today:

www.npr.org...

Great stuff.

Read down in the article, some of those comments get interesting.

No, there have been at least three deep-drilling projects already:

Project Mohole, begun in 1961;
see (en.wikipedia.org...

The Kola Superdeep Borehole in Russia, begun in 1970;
see (en.wikipedia.org...

Japan's Integrated Deep Ocean Drilling Program, begun in 2007;
see (en.wikipedia.org...

Silverhill

www.physorg.com...

If they don't mind sacrificing the drill, I can't see much more happening than a new undersea mountain being created! If it were overland, then yes, I'd really be wondering about them.

Originally posted by redtic

Originally posted by mblahnikluver
Earth is NOT a toy!


Why do they always insist on messing with things they know nothing about?

Seriously? If the human race had always had that attitude, where exactly would we be?

I was listening to this on npr's science friday with facination today:

www.npr.org...

Great stuff.

Wow seriously yourself? Sorry but I think we are destroying our planet!

It is not a toy for them to just rape and pillage basically. Look at the Rain Forrests, disappearing because we want to play and tear the trees down to build stupid things and use the trees for other things. We don't need to take so much from the Earth, she gives us all we need and we over step that, but that is my opinion. I think sometimes they do things they should.

I can't listen to that if its a radio or audio link. What is it on? I do like science topics don't get me wrong but some I don't agree with and that is based on my views.

The intense heat drilling deep and the hole closing up on itself make drilling a few miles into the earth's crust which can at places be 70 miles thick, IMPOSSIBLE! OK so they are looking for a 5 mile thick crust under the deep pressure of the ocean, they will encounter other logistical problems, other than heat.

But why get all wound up in a tizzy over a tiny hole? The tectonic plates of the ocean reseeding open up huge gaps of lava flow into the ocean, it's recycling the mantle that plates, like the one Japan is on, India, etc.. that are gobbled up back into the mantle. Its an ongoing recycling of the earth's surface mass.

If they are really interested to study exposed molten mantle creeping into the ocean they don't have to dig for it, just locate a mid oceanic plate ridge, JEEZ!

Already posted, the Russian borehole. You should read up on the history and progress of their 12,000 meter hole and why its progress has basically ceased.

mmmm... Nobody BOMBED the moon, duh!
It was an EMPTY "rocket", no explosives, no detonators, just a piece of metal with sensors...
So... Chill...

More paranoia. I swear, every day has been the end of the world.

Originally posted by Illustronic
The intense heat drilling deep and the hole closing up on itself make drilling a few miles into the earth's crust which can at places be 70 miles thick, IMPOSSIBLE! OK so they are looking for a 5 mile thick crust under the deep pressure of the ocean, they will encounter other logistical problems, other than heat.

But why get all wound up in a tizzy over a tiny hole? The tectonic plates of the ocean reseeding open up huge gaps of lava flow into the ocean, it's recycling the mantle that plates, like the one Japan is on, India, etc.. that are gobbled up back into the mantle. Its an ongoing recycling of the earth's surface mass.

If they are really interested to study exposed molten mantle creeping into the ocean they don't have to dig for it, just locate a mid oceanic plate ridge, JEEZ!

Already posted, the Russian borehole. You should read up on the history and progress of their 12,000 meter hole and why its progress has basically ceased.

edit on 26-3-2011 by Illustronic because: (no reason given)

If they can, they will. Eventually.

The reason this is insane is that the heat (and pressure) at those depths is insane. If you have a small pipe and exert high pressure on one end it creates a violent stream on the other. If you have a large width pipe and do the same the output velocity on the other end is reduced.

These geniuses are basically creating an enormous high-pressure tube from the mantle to the surface. Of course, they are too intelligent to make a mistake so we have nothing to fear.

Originally posted by littlezeta
why would you want to mess with mother nature like this..

They want to for reasons of importance to them. Reasons they won't tell us.

They aren't doing this for a scientific experiment. They know precisely what their goal is and how to achieve it. The hardest thing for them to do is coming up with an excuse why they're doing it.

Originally posted by Australiana
reply to post by PoorFool

 

I am so sick of scientists that think they know everything, when there is more and more proof proving that they apparently do not. If scientists knew everything, then Earth would not be in so much mess in the first place hey?!

You cannot blame scientists for the mess a few greedy people made. Science actually has a very hard time getting funding from the government.

reply to post by littlezeta


I think they need to prove they can drill a hole in a balloon before they are allowed to play with larger toys.

I think this is ridiculous and I'm totally against them drilling into the mantle. Are they serious? What if something goes wrong? We already have massive earthquakes and volcanoes showing signs of eruption. Wouldn't them drilling into the earth when they don't even need to cause more problems? Why mess with something that doesn't need to be fixed?

reply to post by ConcreteAngel1


Anytime you put a hole in something you weaken the surface tension. ANOMALY.....my n turned into an h at the end of the word tension. I made four attempts to correct it, it persisted in typing the h instead. Strange.

A hole with unequal pressure develops a tunnel effect with the higher pressure pushing through the hole into the area of lower pressure. This raises the question, what will the hole release, how fast will it release ir, will it make the hole larger and what makes them think they can stop it?

The deepwater drilling disaster, volcanoes, methane gas and Pandora's box make me think this is a very bad idea.

I don't think their curiosity and greed are sufficient reasons to endanger the health and life of me and my family. How about you?

Yeah, to me it just seems like they are curious and therefore are willing to risk planet Earth just to see what might be down there. I'm sure the information they collect can be useful somehow, but to me, the risk seems to great.

The pollution of our oceans and land, our rivers and streams. Our water supply, our air quality, our natural resources, our world endangered to the point it is hazardous to our health. I don't know about you but i did not profit anything from this terrible thing,

Each hateful act they did to our world was accompanied by important and famous people claiming there was a need for this and that to make the world better for all. Somehow the expectations were never fulfilled, the needs never met, and the world got poorer. And the politicians and famous got richer.

Years passed, politicians were bought, and that which was ours became theirs and there was no longer a free place to stand. The poor could not stop moving until no one was looking, then they could hide.and rest.

Those fat people with all the trees in their pockets and our natural resources hanging around their necks put cameras is those empty places too. Even in the wilderness, the poor had to pay to stay.

One day, the God of the land was called back by his steward, whose job it was to report the conditions of His PLANET, that all that was predicted had come to pass....The OWNER returned and set things right.

If they ever succeed in drilling a little insignificant hole to molten lava, it will close up as soon as the lava hits the cold ocean water. Before they ever get close, their drill bit will melt, warp, lose power, shatter under the stress of the pressure, or otherwise fail. I don't think they can construct such a drill shaft that will withstand the pressure.

One of the most exciting dimensions of the Earth-building process is volcanism . The power and destructive capability of volcanoes is well known, but there are many more volcanoes underwater, termed submarine volcanoes, than there are on land. Some are quite active with recent eruptions, whereas many others lie quietly dormant.

During eruptions, molten earth, or magma, comes close to the ocean floor and escapes through fractures in the Earth's crust. Now termed lava, the molten rock flows across the seabed, solidifying as it comes in contact with the cold ocean water.

Most of the volcanic eruptions on Earth occur on the mid-ocean ridges, but oceanographers have only recently been able to detect them. Mid-ocean ridges spread out like the seams on a baseball, across the floor of the world's oceans. They form extensive volcanic mountain ranges, averaging 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) wide, 1,000 to 2,100 meters (3,280 to 6,888 feet) high, and extend for 65,000 kilometers (40,300 miles) around Earth.

The Atlantic Mid-ocean Ridge is the most continuous and longest, extending from the Arctic Ocean to beyond the southern tip of Africa. Many of these ridges have spawned submarine volcanoes that lay astride the spreading zone. The Axial Seamount is an example of a submarine volcano rising from a mid-ocean ridge. It is located on the Juan de Fuca Ridge, a prominent feature on the seafloor of the northeast Pacific Ocean, about 484 kilometers (300 miles) west of Oregon and Washington.

The Juan de Fuca Ridge is a mid-ocean ridge, a place where two of the Earth's tectonic plates are slowly moving apart, or diverging from each other. Along the plate boundary, magma rises up to fill the gap and creates a new ocean floor. This is why Axial is so volcanically active and why oceanographers are using it as an underwater research observatory. Axial Seamount rises 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) above the surrounding seafloor and yet is still 1,400 meters (4,590 feet) below sea level. A large volcanic crater, or caldera, 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) wide, 8 kilometers (5 miles) long, and 100 meters (328 feet) deep, marks its summit where the seamount has collapsed inward.

Earthquakes are always associated with submarine volcanoes and are usually small and numerous. Most of them are too small to be detected by seismometers on land.

Over 60% of the global volcanism occurs within the oceans. See the Axial Seamount here!

Meh we had all this uproar about the Haldron Collider thing and nothing came about. This will be similar, a non story.