Scientists investigate the secrets hidden in deepest parts of the Earth and come across the ‘Death Star.’

Anynews.us | Scientists have been trying to uncover the secrets hidden in the Earth’s crust for decades.

 

From Anynews.us | – For decades they drilled towards the core of our Earth. The borehole in northwestern Russia became one of the deepest holes mankind has ever dug. But at a depth of more than 12,000 meters, the researchers encountered something unexpected hidden, forcing them to abort their experiment for good.

Scientists Fascination with the unknown

Mankind has always been fascinated by the mysteries around her. The unknown is scary, so we’ve always tried to learn as much as possible about the world around us. Natural phenomena such as thunderstorms and earthquakes have been stripped of their mystery as we delved into meteorology and earth sciences.

 

Yet it took a long time before we were bored with the mysteries that lie on the surface of the earth. The first satellite went into space in 1957. We went exploring among the stars, hoping to unlock the secrets of the universe. But we didn’t just have an eye for the mysteries above our heads…

Underground world found by Scientists

Today we know more about the universe than ever before. Organizations like NASA and Roskosmos are still revealing new discoveries. Private organizations such as SpaceX by Elon Musk and Blue Origin by Jeff Bezos are now flying among the stars as well. Although we still do not know everything about our universe, part of the mystical veil has already been lifted.

 

But with our heads in the clouds, we overlook a whole other world filled with mysteries. Some scientists even believe that our knowledge of outer space is greater than our knowledge of what lies beneath the Earth’s surface.

While every child learns about the space race during the Cold War, few know about the equally exciting battle for the deeper parts of our globe. We will be taking you on a discovery journey into the deepest depths of our planet.

Project Mohole (hidden)

Since the late 1950s, American scientists and their Soviet counterparts have been competing for the secrets beneath our feet. They conducted in-depth experiments to penetrate as far as possible into the Earth’s crust. Experts estimate that this hard crust is about 50 kilometers thick. Eventually, the Earth’s crust merges into the mantle, the mysterious center that makes up 40% of our planet’s mass.

Project Mohole was the start of this deep race. The United States launched this project in 1958. A group of engineers drilled through the bottom of the Pacific Ocean near Guadalupe, Mexico. They managed to get to a depth of about 180 meters, but unfortunately the funding was cut off after their project ran for about eight years. With Project Mohole canceled the Americans were unable to penetrate the mysterious Earth’s mantle.

hidden Progress

A team of Soviet researchers began drilling in the crust of Russia’s sparsely populated Kola Peninsula on May 24, 1970. Their goal was the same as that of many children having a beach day… To dig as deep as possible.

The researchers set a target of 15,000 meters. With special equipment, they embarked on this challenge of colossal proportions. As the Soviet Union pushed deeper and deeper into the Earth’s crust, scientists from the United States watched with envy.

But then they also managed to make progress in this competition

Bertha Rodgers

In western Oklahoma, the Lone Star Producing Company reached a depth of 9.5 kilometers in its search for oil. Unfortunately, the company did not find what they were looking for during their drilling operations in 1974: not a single drop of oil was found in this place. The so-called Bertha Rodgers hole remained the deepest bore in the world for the next five years.

This record was broken on June 6, 1979 by the Soviet-funded Kola borehole. Four years later, in 1983, the hole even reached a dizzying depth of 11.9 kilometers. To give you an idea of ​​what this looked like: The diameter of the hole was only six inches.

Technical issues

After reaching this milestone, the scientists temporarily halted their experiment. For twelve months, they gave different people the opportunity to visit the enchanting place. But when they wanted to continue drilling after this break, a technical problem arose, which prevented them from drilling any further.

The experiment seemed to have reached its end. And at a depth of nearly 12 kilometers, they had gotten closer to the Earth’s mantle than anyone else ever did before. Yet, even the most optimistic estimates suggested they were still about 45 kilometers away.

They had no idea how close they had come to discovering something incredible

Do not give up

The Soviets decided to try again. They started working on a new hole, which reached a record depth of 12,262 meters in 1989. The scientists were on track and expected to reach a depth of 13.4 kilometers by the end of 1990. They never expected to reach this before. After all, the Americans and their Bertha Rodgers gap had only reached 9.5 kilometers.

This prediction came true. They were hopeful and adjusted their target to 15 kilometers. According to their predictions, they could reach this depth sometime in 1993. But something turned out to be underneath the remote Russian tundra that they had never considered before. A similar depth had never been reached by anyone. The scientists were now venturing into uncharted territory.

At this depth the scientists discovered a very bizarre phenomenon.

 

Heat

The first 3 kilometers of their drilling attempt had been fairly predictable. The temperature was about what the scientists expected. But then something changed that they couldn’t have foreseen beforehand. The temperature started to rise much faster than expected. The closer the researchers got to their target, the further the mercury rose. When they reached around 15 kilometers, they were already at a temperature of 180°C. That was 80°C warmer than their predictions!

But that wasn’t all. In addition to the heat, there was another discovery that messed up the whole investigation. What they found at the bottom of their insanely deep borehole was the reason they decided to abandon their attempt for good.

Discovery

The researchers found out that the rock became less dense the deeper they drilled. This allowed it to react very unpredictably to the higher temperatures at great depths. Because the scientists’ equipment could not withstand this degree of unpredictability, they decided to stop the project. This decision was made in 1992, 22 years after they began their drilling attempt.

But before they closed the so-called Kola Superdeep Borehole, scientists posted at this location got the opportunity to gain a wealth of knowledge about the secrets lurking in the depths of our globe. Curious about what they discovered at these unimaginable depths? Read on quickly!

 

Fossils that Scientists have found

 

 

At a depth of about six kilometers, the scientists discovered microscopic fossils of marine plants. Because these remains had been hidden in the Earth’s crust for almost an eternity, they were pretty much still intact. The scientists estimated that these fossilized marine plants were about two billion years old. You can, once again, see that our globe is very old and we have yet to discovered all of its secrets.

But the minuscule fossils discovered by the scientists weren’t the most exciting secret the borehole uncovered at this site that would be going down in history as the deepest hole ever dug by humans. Curious about the other shocking discoveries made here?

 

Running water

Using so-called seismic waves, the scientists predicted that the Earth’s crust beneath our feet was made up of different types of rocks. At about a depth of three to six kilometers, the granite would turn into basalt. But the reality was very strange. The scientists were puzzled: no matter how deep they drilled, they were only able to find granite. Even at the deepest point.

The change in the seismic waves was not caused by a change from granite to basalt, as they expected. The truth was much more shocking. Several kilometers below the Earth’s crust, at depths no one expected could ever exist there, the researchers discovered flowing water.

Closing the hole

It is believed that this phenomenon is the result of a strong pressure that forces oxygen and hydrogen atoms out of the rock. The water created by this chemical reaction has nowhere to go and is therefore trapped underneath the surface. This discovery was met with astonishment in scientific circles. We might never have discovered this without the Kola Superdeep Borehole.

The closure of this gap occurred around the same time that the Soviet Union fell. In 1995, the scientific project was permanently halted. Today, the hole is primarily seen as an environmental hazard, as it provides direct access to the unstable depths. Interested parties can admire the remains of the experiment in a museum in the town of Zapolyarny, about nine kilometers away.

 

The race isn’t over yet

It has been more than 25 years since the hole was closed. The depth reached by the Soviets with the Kole Superdeep Borehole is still unmatched. However, the race to the center of the globe isn’t over yet. Excavation is still ongoing in several places.

Oil rigs from the International Ocean Discovery Program continue to dig deep under the seabed. Faulty equipment and extreme temperatures make it very difficult, but the search for what secrets still remain underneath the earth’s surface has not stopped. Fortunately, you don’t always have to drill miles deep to make new discoveries. There is still plenty to be found closer to the surface.

 

Expedition to the South Pole by the Scientists

A submarine with two crew members was dropped into the icy waters of Antarctica for a discovery voyage. The crew members’ goal was to penetrate deeper into the murky ocean surrounding the South Pole than ever before. Here they would make discoveries that would make shivers run down your spine. It’s unbelievable what lurks beneath the waves.

 

The dive

After a careful preparation that took up to two years, the perfect place and time was found to make this historic dive. It was about time. We know more about other planets than we do about what is on the ocean floor. As it turns out, we look up faster than we do down. And that while there are still plenty of secrets to uncover on the planet that we call home.

We’ve even managed to map the surface of the planet Mars in more detail than we have been able to do for the bottom of our oceans. And that while Mars is 225 million kilometers away from our earth. In contrast to this staggering distance, the average depth of the ocean is just over 3 kilometers.

What the researchers found at this depth seemed to come straight out of a nightmare.

Iceberg Alley

The dive under Antarctica was not easy. For starters, it was crucial that the scientists found the best place for their dive. After a long preparation and several test dives, a location called ‘Iceberg Alley’ was chosen. This is where the submarine was launched and the explorers began their exciting adventure.

Iceberg Alley is a deep trench near one of the northern points of Antarctica. This part of the ocean is surrounded by moving ice floes. The largest of these pieces cover an area of half a square kilometer. It took quite a bit of preparation to get the submarine in the right place.

 

Dodging ice

The journey of these pioneers was documented in a BBC documentary. As we mentioned on the previous page, it was quite a challenge to get the submarine into the water in the right place. The journey through Iceberg Alley was described by executive producer James Honeyborne as “a giant game of Space Invaders”, where they constantly had to dodge ice floes. In addition, the floating ice floes were not the only obstacle.

The researchers were unable to determine with certainty whether their submarine would withstand the pressure underwater. After all, they had never dived this deep before. All in all, it was a very exciting project for the crew and all of the scientists involved.

A lot could go wrong. But all these worries disappeared when they discovered an awe-inspiring ecosystem of strange creatures on the seafloor. Including a so-called “Death Star”.

 

Life underwater discovered by Scientists

 

Antarctica is inhospitable and unforgiving. The continent is known for its vast ice deserts. But underneath the waves, the scientists discovered a huge amount of sea creatures. The sea creatures that had developed in the extraordinary ecosystem of the Antarctic had almost no resemblance to their distant relatives from other oceans. They reminded the researchers of extraterrestrials.

Mark Taylor, a member of the diving team, later said that there was more life in one square meter in the depths of Antarctica than in the reefs of Australia’s Barrier Reef. The reason for this unimaginable fact is a phenomenon called sea snow.

Sea ​​snow

The layer of sea snow on the bottom around Antarctica is thicker than anywhere else in the world. Marine snow is an organic material that whirls down from the upper part of the ocean. This material is extremely important to the creatures that live on the ocean floor because it is full of nutrients and energy. This food source carries important nutrients from parts of the sea that receive sunlight to the murky depths.

Another important source of nutrients for creatures on the ocean floor sounds a little less cozy than snow: krill poop. Krill are small crustaceans that play an important role in our planet’s oceans. Their droppings turn the seabed into a fertile, muddy environment that’s perfect for life.

The life that feeds on this is one of the most bizarre creatures you’ve ever seen.

Death Star

The Antarctic Sun Star, one of the strangest creatures the team discovered, is also known as a Death Star. This bizarre creature, whose name is a reference to the well-known Star Wars film series, has a sinister reputation. The animal is related to the common starfish, but this distant cousin of Patrick from Spongebob is a lot more deadly.

The Death Star can be bigger than a hubcap and has fifty arms. Its skin is covered with small, sharp scissors. When touched, they slam shut. The Death Star is mainly targeting passing krill for now, but the scientists kept an appropriate distance just to be sure.

King of the ocean

While sharks are in the top of the food pyramid in other oceans, the Death Star is a clear indication that things are different in the waters around Antarctica. Because the water is so cold, few fish can survive. This means that invertebrates such as the sinister starfish rule the bottom around the South Pole.

Scientists say life on the Antarctic Ocean floor can tell us a lot about what life in the seas used to be like. Long before humans ever walked this globe, invertebrates were the dominant predators in the seas. A trip to the bottom of the ocean is like travelling 250 million years back in time.

 

The Ice Dragon Fish

Another bizarre creature the researchers discovered at the bottom of the ocean was the so-called ice dragon fish. Also known by its Latin name Cryodraco Antarcticus, this creature has remarkably adapted to survive in the inhospitable, frigid conditions. His blood contains proteins that work the same as antifreeze. This prevents his blood from freezing at sub-zero temperatures.

But the scientists’ exploration mission wasn’t just about discovering strange creatures. They were mainly looking for knowledge about how life in the Antarctic Ocean has adapted to its conditions. A better understanding of these survival methods can play an important role in our struggle against, or our coping with, the changing climate.

 

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