Chinese ocean drilling ship about to drill through the Earth's crust

If successful, humanity will have its first adventure inside the Earth's crust, opening up new discoveries and potentially achieving new achievements in Earth science research.

Chinese deep-sea drilling ship about to open the border of the Earth image 1 — Mengxiang is designed to withstand the strongest tropical storms, allowing it to operate in any sea area around the globe. Photo: CCTV

The giant ship was developed by the China Geological Survey along with more than 150 research institutes and companies. Measuring 179 meters long and 32.8 meters wide, it can carry about 33,000 tons of cargo. According to Xinhua, the ship can travel 15,000 nautical miles (27,800 kilometers) and operate for 120 days at a time.

The Mengxiang is designed with a structure and stability that can withstand the strongest tropical storms, allowing it to operate in any sea area around the globe. Its drilling power is also best in class, with the ability to reach depths of 11,000 meters below the sea surface.

The Earth’s structure consists of the crust, mantle, and core. Human activity and scientific exploration have been limited to the crust’s surface layer. The crust has an average thickness of 15 kilometers – a small fraction of the Earth’s radius of 6,371 kilometers. Mengxiang is designed to penetrate the Earth’s crust and access the mantle from the ocean surface, opening a previously unknown window for scientific research.

The boundary between the mantle and the crust is called the Mohorovičić discontinuity, or Moho. It is the final barrier to human exploration of the mantle. The Moho lies about 7,000 meters below the ocean floor and about 40,000 meters below dry land.

Since the early 1960s, American scientists have been trying to penetrate the Moho to reach the mantle, but have been unsuccessful. While the Moho remains unbroken, deep-sea drilling technology has provided new insights into the Earth's structure.

"Rock samples from ultra-deep boreholes have become important in understanding plate tectonics, ocean crust evolution, ancient ocean climate and seafloor resources," said Li Chun-feng, a marine geologist at the Department of Marine Sciences at Zhejiang University in eastern China.

For example, exploration of the Mediterranean seabed has revealed vast layers of salt, suggesting that the sea was once a dry salt flat 6 million years ago. Drilling in the Arctic Ocean has revealed its past as a warm freshwater lake covered with duckweed 50 million years ago.

The mystery of what lies deep beneath the Earth’s surface, beyond the “doors to hell,” has long captured the public imagination and been featured in science fiction films. Li said it was highly likely that life could exist in the mantle, citing a growing number of discoveries of organisms that can withstand extreme temperatures and pressures, suggesting they could survive in the mantle’s depths.

However, some scientists are skeptical and believe that it is unlikely that large-sized science fiction creatures exist in the mantle.

According to Xinhua, the recent trial of the Mengxiang was mainly to test the propulsion system, which is powered by a new generation 30 MW power plant. However, details about the core drilling system are still limited. The task of reaching a depth of 11,000 meters below the surface remains very difficult.

Despite the huge challenges in the process, Mr. Li still has high expectations for Mengxiang. He said that the ship's capabilities are advanced and far exceed those of similar vessels such as the US research vessel JOIDES and Japan's scientific drilling vessel Chikyu.

Ngoc Anh (according to SCMP)

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