A billion dollars to learn the secrets of the earth

Scientists from 26 countries around the world called on governments to spend a billion dollars on efforts to drill through the Earth's crust to take material samples.

Chikyu trains will drill down to the mantle to sample the material. (Photo: AP)

Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) is the name of an international research program with the participation of research institutions in 26 countries - such as the European Marine Research Institute in France, Kyushu University in Japan, British National Oceanic Center, Wood Holes Oceanographic Institute in the US, University of Bremen in Germany. The purpose of the program is to take material samples from the earth coating to study, monitor and measure the environment below the ocean floor.

The cover is a layer of rock about 1,900 km thick beneath the earth's crust. It accounts for about 68% of the planet's volume.

Recently IODP researchers have called on governments to support the idea of ​​drilling to the coating to learn the secrets here. According to their calculations, the cost for the idea is one billion dollars, CNN reported.

Located beneath the earth's crust, the coating (red) has a thickness of about
2,900km and accounts for 68% of the planet's volume. (Photo: astrobio.net)

Chikyu, the name of a ship designed to drill the ocean floor of Japan, will implement the idea. In September, the Chikyu ship set a world record when its drill reached a depth of 2,466km. To get material from the coating, the drill of the Chikyu will have to be three times deeper than the record it just created.

The drilling process to the Earth's coating will take place for several years due to many reasons. One of the reasons is that the drill cannot last long. Each drill only lasts for 50 to 60 hours. Then they have to replace the new drill.

'This is the most complex and difficult project in the history of earth science,' said Damon Teagle, one of the program's executives.

If IODP funding requirements are met, the Chikyu vessel will start drilling in this decade and the drill can reach the earth's core in early 2020.

Material samples in the coating will help scientists understand the Earth's activity and evolution.