How does drilling into Earth's crust work?

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SUMMARY

Drilling into the Earth's crust involves the use of large drills and an extension shaft known as the "drill string." The USSR's Kola Superdeep Borehole project in the 1970s aimed to reach the Mohorovicic Discontinuity but was halted at approximately 12,000 meters due to the physical properties of rocks at that depth, which behave more like plastic solids. High temperatures, reaching several hundred degrees Celsius, caused drill bits to burn out rapidly, leading to the hole collapsing and ultimately resulting in the project's abandonment.

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  • Understanding of geological survey techniques
  • Familiarity with drilling equipment and terminology, specifically "drill string"
  • Knowledge of the Mohorovicic Discontinuity and its significance
  • Basic principles of thermodynamics as they relate to rock behavior under extreme conditions
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  • Research the engineering challenges of deep drilling in geology
  • Explore advancements in drilling technology for extreme conditions
  • Study the geological implications of the Mohorovicic Discontinuity
  • Investigate the Kola Superdeep Borehole and its findings
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Geologists, drilling engineers, and researchers interested in deep Earth exploration and the challenges associated with high-temperature drilling operations.

arabianights
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i knew during geology survey, they can drill into Earth thousands of meters below the surface. just curious how did they accomplish that?
 
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With very large drills :wink:

Drill, add extension shaft ('drill string' apparently),drill again. Repeat ad naseum.

http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/energy/oil-drilling4.htm

wiki has this interesting note about the deepest hole ever drilled:

In the 1970s and early 1980s the USSR attempted to drill a hole through the crust, to sample the Mohorovicic Discontinuity. The deepest hole ever drilled failed not because of lack of money or time, but because of the physics of rocks within the crust. The hole achieved approximately 12,000 metres depth, a depth at which rock begins to act more like a plastic solid than a rigid solid. The rock also approached temperatures of several hundred degrees Celsius, requiring that the drilling fluid be refrigerated before being sent to the cutting face of the drill. As the drill bits burnt out and were removed for replacement, the hole simply flowed closed, and the rock had to be re-drilled. Due to the temperature, the drill bits burnt out before achieving any headway. The hole was scrapped.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boring_(earth)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kola_Superdeep_Borehole
 

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