Scientists To Dig Through Earth's Crust

Scientists are set to drill a hole into the Indian Ocean floor for the first time in a bid to get below the Earth's crust.

16:02 03 December 2015

Scientists are preparing to drill a hole into the Indian Ocean floor to obtain a sample rock from the planet's mantle or its deep interior. In the process, they hope to check their assumptions about the materials from which the crust itself is made.

 

Co-team leader Prof Chris MacLeod said that they may take several years to drop the full 5 to 5.5km.

 

"In total, we think it will take three expeditions,"

 

"The science is approved and we have funding for this initial two-month investigation. But we will need to come back and we may not complete the task until the 2020s."

 

This is not the first time that such project was carried out but no one has succeeded so far.

 

However, the latest effort has better chances of succeeding as faulting and erosion have already thinned the crust at the targeted drill site, known as Atlantis Bank on the South West Indian Ridge of the Indian Ocean.