Kola ultradeep well (SG-3) is one of the most successful projects in the study of the internal structure of the planet.A prerequisite for the implementation of the project was the desire to explore the world of scientific frontier zone between the crust and the mantle - Mohorovicha surface.Kola ultradeep well become an alternative route, which went to the Soviet scientists in the study of the earth's depths, in contrast to their American colleagues that the main focus of the research done on drilling at the bottom of the seas and oceans.
Kola Peninsula has been chosen by chance, in this place for a long period of erosion greatly destroyed the upper layers of rock, so if the well has reached design digits (15 km), the mysterious Moho would be achieved.A special feature of this area is the sharp increase in its speed of seismic waves, the cause of which is still completely unexplained.Work on the "Kola ultradeep well," begun in 1970 and completed them in 1994. At the beginning of the process used traditional methods (entire drill string is rotated).But after exceeding a certain depth the technology had to change.Now, only rotate the drill head.
As a result, the well reached a depth of 12,262 m, the work was stopped for technological and financial reasons.In particular, after the 12 km mark of the applied method of heat removal is not giving the desired results, and the breed "floated", leading to deformation of the hole when removing the drill string.Moreover, the rate of temperature increase came as a surprise to scientists.With every kilometer it increased to twenty degrees (including, for radiogenic heat), although it was expected that this figure will be equal to sixteen.Up to a certain time, SG-3 remained the deepest in the world, her record was broken only in the twenty-first century, when it was bypassed oil wells in Qatar and on Sakhalin, drilled at an acute angle to the surface.Kola building was first "mothballed" until 2008, and then liquidated.
Despite the fact that the main goal was not achieved, Kola ultradeep well gave a lot of useful science.It was disproved bilayer model of the structure of the earth crust (granite and basalt), and has also been found that the presence of seismic transition caused not different kinds of rocks, and the change of their properties due to temperature and pressure.They also found that after the 9 km mark of the substance is very porous, micro-cracks are filled with an aqueous solution.Reaching a depth of 6.7 km., The well drilled has revealed fossilized microorganisms become proof that life on the planet appeared on 1.5 billion. Years earlier than previously believed.The presence of methane in areas where there is no sediment, refuted the theory of the biological origin of oil and gas.
Besides scientific discoveries, the well connected series of rumors.In particular, the long walk of history that scientists have supposedly heard the moans of people from the depths that the work is done inexplicable things, and was discovered by a real storehouse of minerals, rocks were identical lunar soil, and after stopping the drilling in 1995 within the well explosion.Truth or fiction know, perhaps only those who worked at the site.
