What Will They Find When They Drill to the Earth's Mantle for the First Time?
A Japanese drilling ship plans to drill all the way down through the ocean floor, the Earth's crust, and down to the mantle for the first time ever.
This is what scientists think they will find:
How They Plan to Drill to the Earth's Mantle
The engineers behind this project decided the easiest thing to do was to use a drilling ship that will allow them to begin boring through the earth at the ocean floor. That's 2.5 miles down through water. They will still need to cut through 3.7 miles of the Earth's crust to reach the mantle.
Look, I know what you Hollow Earth folks are thinking:
The scientists have assured the public that this effort won't pop the planet like a balloon or trigger earthquakes or anything like that. They say that the hole they will make will be much too small. Sure, that's just silly... I hope.
The Journey Towards the Center of the Earth
They also aren't likely to encounter a big, hollow space filled with dinosaurs or lost civilizations, but those ideas have fueled some classic fantasy and science fiction stories. The scientists are curious if they will find any signs of life that have somehow managed to spread and survive deep within the crust.
Apparently it gets really warm down there, but they do believe that a lot of water is actually locked up below the oceans. In fact, their may be as much water locked up under the ground as there is on top.
Image sources: Wikipedia
More reading: https://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/wilderness-resources/stories/drilling-earths-mantle-good-idea
What Do You Think They Will Find?
The scientists are curious about learning more about the composition of the planet and confirming their theories. They also believe they can use the data to help predict earthquakes. I'm excited to learn what they find, but it would be kind of cool if there actually was a hollow space down there filled with dinosaurs and barbarians.