The most central part of the Earth’s interior would require drilling approximately which is 6,370 kilometers (20,898,950 ft)
The deepest drilling ever conducted in world history is only 12 kilometers (39370,1 ft)
Why is so hard and and is the effort worth it? Or we only will find more rocks ?
In: 25
Geologist/petroleum engineer here.
While everyone here is discussing the physical properties of the Earth that make drilling impossible, not many are addressing the logistical challenges involved.
The Merco 58 was one of the largest drilling rigs in the 1980s. It managed to drill about 3 wells before the oil industry took a downturn, leading to its dismantling for scrap. The drawworks of the oil rig were capable of lifting 180,000 feet of drill pipe, with sizes stepping down. However, the weight of such an extensive amount of drill pipe wasn’t feasible due to the risk of it pulling apart under its own weight.
On Earth, we are constrained to drilling to around 40,000 feet. Beyond this point, gravity exerts enough force to cause the drill pipe to break apart, and currently, we lack materials that could withstand this pressure.
Interestingly, on the Moon, a drilling rig as powerful as the Merco could theoretically drill up to 6 times as deep as on Earth due to the Moon’s lower gravity.
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