Drilling into the unknown: China’s giant borehole raises big questions

Why dig so deep?

As reported by Xinhua, an English-language newspaper in China, the country achieved a notable milestone in deep-Earth exploration on March 4, 2024. The successful completion of a drilling operation saw a borehole reaching a depth of 10,000 meters, approximately 32,808 feet.

China's deepest well

The drilling is taking place in the Tarim Basin in the oil-rich Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The question many have is why does China want to drill this ridiculously deep borehole?

The core of the earth

China has been one of the countries most interested in exploring the Earth's crust for decades, and it seems that they are now ready to get as close to the Earth's crust as possible to step up this research.

One step further

In fact, the Asian giant has been exploring the Earth's interior for years, but with this hole, they aim to go where no one has gone before.

Minerals, energy resources

The aim is, a priori, to discover minerals or energy resources that can be used to improve the country's economy, China Daily reports.

Photo: Twitter - China Xinhua News @XHNews

Prevention of natural disasters

Incidentally, as Chinese President Xi Jinping confirmed in 2021, this mega-project will serve to assess and - perhaps - prevent future natural disasters such as volcanic eruptions or earthquakes.

10 continental layers

To this end, the plan was made to drill the deepest borehole in China's history. According to Bloomberg, it will be a narrow hole that will cross 10 continental layers.

In search of the distant past

The goal is to reach the Cretaceous system in the earth's crust, where they expect to find rocks more than 145 million years old, according to state-run Xinhua news agency.

Large tonnage machines

To carry out this project, China will use a 2,000-ton oil rig with high-tech drill bits and drill pipe, Interesting Engineering reports.

Photo: Twitter - China Xinhua News @XHNews

Problems with the environment

The area chosen for this nearly infinite well has an additional problem, which is a very dry climate. It lies in the Tarim River basin and adjacent to the Taklamakan Desert, the largest desert in China, Xinhua reports.

Photo: Twitter - China Xinhua News @XHNews

Sea, mountains and desert area

This is an area with a very difficult terrestrial environment coupled with unfavorable subsurface conditions makes the drilling even more complicated.

Photo: Twitter - China Xinhua News @XHNews

Prepare for the operation

Currently, the team in charge of this complicated project is prepared for months to complete this challenging task.

Photo: Twitter - China Xinhua News @XHNews

Everything fixed before they start

The risk, danger and complexity involved in such a mission justify taking every possible precaution.

An unprecedented project

"The difficulty of the project is comparable to driving a large truck on two thin steel cables," Sun Jinsheng, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, told the Economic Times.

12,262 meters

Also called SG-3, it is located on the Kola Peninsula in the Pechengsky area. It reached a depth of 12,262 meters.