Project Mohole

Project Mohole
CUSS I
Underseas beacons for positioning by sonar

Project Mohole was an ambitious attempt to drill through the Earth's crust into the Mohorovičić discontinuity, and to provide an Earth science complement to the high profile Space Race. The project was initially led by the American Miscellaneous Society (AMSOC) with funding from the National Science Foundation.

Phase One was executed in spring 1961. Five holes were drilled off the coast of Guadalupe Island, Mexico, the deepest at 183 m (601 ft) below the sea floor in 3,500 m (11,700 ft) of water. This was unprecedented: not in the hole's depth but because of the depth of the ocean and because it was drilled from an untethered platform. Also, the core sample proved valuable, penetrating through Miocene age sediments for the first time to reveal the lowest 13 m (44 ft) consisting of basalt.

Project Mohole contracted with Global Marine of Los Angeles for the use of its oil drillship CUSS I. A consortium of Continental, Union, Superior and Shell Oil Companies, CUSS had originally developed it in 1956 as a technological test bed for the nascent offshore oil industry. CUSS I was one of the first vessels in the world capable of drilling in water depth up to 3,560 m (11,680 ft), while maintaining a position within a radius of 600 ft (180 m). Project Mohole expanded its operational range by inventing what is now known as dynamic positioning.

Phase One proved that both the technology and expertise were available to drill into the Earth's mantle. It was intended as the experimental phase of the project, and did succeed in drilling to a depth of 601 feet below the sea floor [1]. However, deeper drilling never took place: an attempted shift of operational control to NSF proved unsatisfactory, AMSOC dissolved itself, phase two of the project was abandoned and the entire project discontinued by Congress, objecting to increasing costs in 1966.[2]

Contents

See also

External links

Bibliography

  • A Hole in the Bottom of the Sea: The Story of the Mohole Project by Willard Bascom, 1961. ISBN 0385007116
  • Oral History Interview. Willard Bascom, 1993.
  • Oral History Interview. Robert Bauer, 1993
  • Milton Lomask, "A Minor Miracle: An Informal History of the National Science Foundation." NSF
  • Chandler, G. N. "Experimental Deep Water Drilling- Project Mohole" (Motion Picture, Library of Congress Catalogue Number: fi 68000006, 28 min)

References

  1. ^ http://www.nationalacademies.org/history/mohole/
  2. ^ Project Mohole, 1958-1966, National Academies, http://www.nationalacademies.org/history/mohole/, retrieved 2011-04-22 

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Project Mohole — Bohrplattform CUSS I Project Mohole (Abkürzung für Mohorovičić Diskontinuität, verschmolzen mit engl. hole = Loch) war ein von der National Science Foundation getragenes Forschungsprogramm, das ein Durchdringen der Erdkruste mittels Tiefbohrungen …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Project Azorian — Hughes Glomar Explorer Coordinates …   Wikipedia

  • Mohole — noun A hole drilled through the Earths crust into the Mohorovičić discontinuity, part of a scientific project of the 1960s …   Wiktionary

  • The Mohole Mystery — is a juvenile science fiction novel, the eleventh in Hugh Walters Chris Godfrey of U.N.E.X.A. series. It was published in the UK by Faber in 1968, in the US by Criterion Books in 1969 under the title The Mohole Menace.Plot summaryA drilling… …   Wikipedia

  • Walter Munk — Naissance modifier …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Mohorovičić discontinuity — Earth cross section showing location of the Mohorovičić discontinuity …   Wikipedia

  • American Miscellaneous Society — The American Miscellaneous Society (AMSOC 1952 to 1964) was a loose collection of scientists that was formed mainly to progress research projects that didn t fit into any category, such as the unsuccessful project to drill into the Earth s mantle …   Wikipedia

  • Kola Superdeep Borehole — Coordinates: 69°23′46.39″N 30°36′31.20″E / 69.3962194°N 30.608667°E / 69.3962194; 30.608667 …   Wikipedia

  • Deep Sea Drilling Program — Glomar Challenger The Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) was an ocean drilling project operated from 1968 to 1983. The program was considered to be successful as evidenced by the data and publications that have resulted from it and is now supported …   Wikipedia

  • Mantle (geology) — For other uses, see Mantle (disambiguation). Earth cutaway from core to exosphere. The mantle is a part of a terrestrial planet or other rocky body large enough to have differentiation by density. The interior of the Earth, similar to the other… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”