China drilling 10,000-metre deep hole into Earth's crust. Here's why

Chinese scientists have started drilling a 10,000-metre (32,808 feet) hole into the crust of the Earth, as the second largest economy of the world is exploring new frontiers not just above but below the surface of the planet.

China has started drilling to create what will be the deepest borehole ever made in the country. The drilling started in the oil-rich Tarim Basin, in northwest China's Xinjiang region on Tuesday, reported the official Xinhua News Agency.

The operation kicked off at 11:46 am on Tuesday. The construction of the borehole is a landmark event in the deep-Earth exploration of China, providing the nation with an unprecedented opportunity to study areas of Earth which are deep beneath the surface.

The borehole is being constructed in the hinterland of the Taklimakan Desert, which is China's largest desert.

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Earlier on Tuesday morning, for the first time, China's civilian astronaut was sent into space from the Gobi Desert.

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Narrow shaft to reachcretaceous system in Earth's crust

The narrow shaft which is being constructed inside the ground, along with the drill bits and drill pipes which weigh more than 2,000 tonnes, will reach the cretaceous system in the Earth's crust after penetrating more than 10 layers of rocks or continental strata, as per the report.

The cretaceous system of the Earth features rock that date back some 145 million years.

Technical expert Wang Chunsheng, who recently joined the operation, stated that drilling a borehole which is more than 10,000 metres deep is a bold step to explore the Earth's unknown territory and enhance the boundaries of human understanding.

"The construction difficulty of the drilling project can be compared to a big truck driving on two thin steel cables," said Sun Jinsheng, a scientist at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, while speaking to Xinhua.

The Tarim Basin, where the borehole is being constructed, is one of the toughest areas to explore because of its harsh ground environment along with complicated underground conditions.

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While addressing the leading scientists of the nation in 2021, President Xi Jinping in his speech had called for greater progress in the exploration of deep Earth.

Such explorations help in identifying mineral and energy resources and assessing the risks of environmental disasters, like volcano eruptions and earthquakes.

The Earth's deepest man-made hole is the Russian Kola Superdeep Borehole, which was drilled for 20 years to reach a depth of 12,262 metres (40,230 feet) in 1989.

According to a BBC report, the Kola Superdeep Borehole is so deep that locals claim one can hear the moans of souls who get tortured in hell.

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