Time is GMT + 8 hours
Posted: 30 December 2005 1719 hrs
Japanese scientists plan to drill deep
into core of Earth
By Channel NewsAsia's Japan Correspondent Michiyo Ishida
YOKOHAMA, Japan : Japan has announced ambitious plans to tunnel to
the very core of planet Earth - a feat no human has ever
achieved.
The country's scientists are hoping to learn more about the
planet's past and even its future.
The almost 58,000-tonne vessel which will do the drilling is one of
the largest research ships in the world, measuring 210 meters long
and 28 metres wide.
The vessel has a tower which stands 121 meters tall - the
equivalent of a 30-storey building, and it is equipped with four
pipes which can lift up to 1,200 tonnes.
Named "chikyu" or "earth", the ship was built to drill 7,000 metres
under the seabed - using cutting edge riser technology.
Asahiko Taira, Director-General, Centre for Deep Earth Exploration,
said, "7,000 metres is the magic number for earth science. The
reason is because oceanic crust is only 5 to 6000 meters.
Underneath, there is a place called mantle, which is the largest
component of the earth, and the mantle behaves like conviction
cell, moving the earth's surface like a gel, covered in magma. In
an earthquake, the whole earth mantle moves, but nobody has seen
the mantle. "
The ship itself is a large laboratory, equipped with the latest
gadgets - including a computed tomography or CT scanner to study
samples from the earth's core.
Operated by the Japanese Agency for Marine-Earth Science
Technology, the ship has already conducted preliminary digs.
Next year, the vessel is aiming to drill down 2,500 meters, but
there are risks involved.
Mr Taira said, "We'll avoid large magma generator. It's too hot to
drill. So we'll detect where the cold mantle is and make sure
there's no volcanic eruption taking place while drilling.
"So we have to find a safe place. But at the same time...we may
expect some living organisms in the mantle. If we can find some
micro-bioactivity, there's bacteria within the mantle, that will be
a Nobel Prize class discovery."
Aside from discovering micro-organisms and the mechanism of
earthquakes and tsunamis, by drilling 5,000 metres into the seabed,
it is likely that they will hit natural gas.
Scientists are hoping they will be able to unveil the mystery of
the creation on the earth, and where it is headed. - CNA/ms
********
This reminds me of the fiction book
"Journey to the center of the Earth", if I din remember the title
of the book wrongly.
