Deepest Hole Ever Dug
06Jun,2024

Deepest Hole Ever Dug

BY : Rhiannon Nevinczenko

When you were a kid, were you determined to dig a secret tunnel to your bestie's house? Or, perhaps, to the other side of the world?
The deepest hole we have ever dug is 40,230 feet. The hole is called the Kola Superdeep Borehole and is located in Russia's Kola peninsula. Luckily, the hole is only 9 inches in diameter, so you would not be able to fall into it. If you did, however, it could take up to 4 minutes to reach the bottom!
The goal of scientific drilling projects like this one is not to reach your bestie's house or the other side of the planet. Rather, geologists aim to study the layer below the Earth's crust - the mantle. Thus far, deep drilling projects have failed due to increasingly extreme temperatures and pressure that ultimately destroy equipment and prevent progress. If such a project ever succeeds, it will be the geologic equivalent of a moon landing, giving scientists access to a whole new world of information about the Earth.
Photo credit: Ayman Mustapha Nouas via Pexels.

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