
Kola Superdeep Borehole - gere
http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/kola-superdeep-borehole
======
tokenadult
The article kindly submitted here mentions

[http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/kola-superdeep-
borehole](http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/kola-superdeep-borehole)

as a source of more information.

~~~
dang
Thanks. Changed from
[http://www.slate.com/blogs/atlas_obscura/2014/05/08/kola_sup...](http://www.slate.com/blogs/atlas_obscura/2014/05/08/kola_superdeep_borehole_is_the_world_s_deepest_hole.html)

Submitters: please don't submit content that's lifted from some other source;
submit the other source instead.

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coryrc
The Atlas Obscura blog on Slate is by an employee (the head writer) of Atlas
Obscura, so it isn't lifted. Either link is fine IMNSHO.

~~~
dang
You're right, that's not as bad. But it's still better, IMO, to link to the
original site.

~~~
gere
Personally, I liked more the Slate version from an editorial point of view.
Since there was no lifting involved and the Slate version is stuffed with
links to the original version, I made a choice. Ironically the Atlas Obscura
Facebook page links[0] to the Slate version.

[0]
[https://www.facebook.com/atlasobscura/posts/1015244661763772...](https://www.facebook.com/atlasobscura/posts/10152446617637728)

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larubbio
xkcd had a comment showing relative depth of the oceans and lakes. The kola
borehole was also on there.

[https://xkcd.com/1040/](https://xkcd.com/1040/)

~~~
yitchelle
Can someone explain the David Bowie and Freddie Mecury reference?

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manachar
The two of them did a song called Under Pressure.

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b_emery
Much more at wikipedia:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kola_Superdeep_Borehole](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kola_Superdeep_Borehole)

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Theodores
If it is that hot down at the bottom - ~200 degrees C depending on where the
bottom is, is there no way to economically generate power with some type of
steam turbine dropped down the hole? If you could get the steam turbine to
power the drill then you could make it all the way to 'China' by teatime...

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dignati
That would be a heat pump:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_pump](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_pump)

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darkmighty
Not a heat pump, simply a heat engine (if you're taking the work) or heat
source (if you're using the heat). "Pumping" implies going against the
gradient.

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Uhhrrr
Reminds me of Kim Stanley Robinson's usage of Moholes for ore mining and
energy production in his Mars trilogy:

[http://kimstanleyrobinson.info/w/index.php5?title=Mohole](http://kimstanleyrobinson.info/w/index.php5?title=Mohole)

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shiftpgdn
FYI: Exxon recently surpassed the depth of this hole while drilling in the
Chayvo oil fields.
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sakhalin-I](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sakhalin-I)

~~~
unspecified
Exxon's borehole is longer, but not deeper: Kola is 12.6km deep, and
Sakhalin-I is 12.3km.

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austinz
So how is the drilling actually conducted? Is there basically a miles-long,
rapidly-spinning, articulated shaft with a drill bit at the bottom and a motor
at the surface? What sorts of weird and wonderful engineering challenges do
you run into with that sort of setup, especially as your giant drill grows
larger than 10 miles in length?

~~~
imgur
Generally, the shaft would rotate with a drill bit at the bottom. But, it
seems in the case of Superdeep Borehole, they developed a new mechanism to
rotate only the drill bit at the bottom of the shaft[1]. They pumped
pressurized "drilling fluid"[2][3] down the shaft to spin the drill bit.

[1][http://www.ritchiewiki.com/wiki/index.php/Kola_Superdeep_Bor...](http://www.ritchiewiki.com/wiki/index.php/Kola_Superdeep_Borehole)

[2][http://www.supertightstuff.com/03/18/featured/kola-
superdeep...](http://www.supertightstuff.com/03/18/featured/kola-superdeep-
borehole/)

[3][http://www.damninteresting.com/the-deepest-
hole/](http://www.damninteresting.com/the-deepest-hole/)

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cek
Watching Cosmos last week had me thinking about how deep we'd drilled to date.
I meant to go look it up but didn't. Thanks for posting.

It saddens me/blows me away we've only gone 7.5 miles (into the 22 mile
crust). It also reminds me how fragile our biosphere is and how little we
really understand it.

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naturalethic
Any picture of the Earth should have a giant fucking question mark right in
the middle of it. That scientists and publishers egotistically declare their
theories as truth actually drives any sense of wonder out of children
contemplating a life of discovery. It's sick and irresponsible.

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wyager
How has no one removed the cap by now? I would be extremely tempted to throw
stuff down the hole.

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userbinator
I think it was welded shut precisely because they didn't want people doing
that.

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mhb
Why does it have a metal cap?

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scott_karana
Falling in wouldn't be very pleasant, I suppose. :-)

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iLoch
That's a long fall, 3/4 of a minute if I'm not mistaken.

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deadfall
120 miles per hour is terminal velocity of a falling human being.

120/60 = 2 miles per minute

Skydive fall from 15K feet is over a minute free fall.

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nitrogen
Repeatedly bouncing off the edges would probably slow the fall, and make it
significantly more painful. That is, if the hole were wide enough to fit you.

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akerl_
A video about this, for folks who would rather watch/listen than read:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zz6v6OfoQvs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zz6v6OfoQvs)

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jhallenworld
I can't help but remember a certain Art Bell episode:
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvnxeX2SQso](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvnxeX2SQso)

Art Bell was awesome..

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mholt
Thanks. Now I'm hooked clicking through different articles on this site.

