The aim of this project is to explore the depths of the earth to find reserves of natural resources, but also to learn lessons from our very distant past …
Digging a hole more than 10,000 meters deep… Is it possible? This is the slightly crazy but actually very serious bet that China launched at the end of May. Work on Project Deep Earth 1-Yuejin 3-3XC Well began exactly on May 30th in the country’s largest desert in the Tarim Basin in northwest China. A location rich in mineral deposits and oil, as explained by the Huffington Post. The operation must be completed in 457 days!
By penetrating the depths of the earth, China is pursuing several goals. She hopes to find new energy resources there that can be harnessed in the more or less distant future. The project is also being piloted by Sinopec, the China National Petroleum Corporation, the country’s largest oil and gas producer, which has already drilled at a depth of 8,000 meters.
This drilling at a depth of 10 km (11,100 meters to be precise) is a real engineering feat. It requires special equipment developed for the occasion, including a two thousand ton drill rig capable of withstanding a temperature of 200°C. By going this deep into our planet for the first time, China will have a wealth of information that will mobilize the scientific community.
At this depth are rocks from the Cretaceous geological epoch 66 to 145 million years ago, a time when dinosaurs still roamed the earth. A Chinese researcher even mentions the Cambrian layer, which is over 500 million years old…