Geological structure of an ultra-deep well on the Kola Peninsula. The road to hell: the deepest well in the bowels of the Earth

It occupies the first positions in the list of "Super-deep wells of the world". It was drilled to study the structure of deep earth rocks. Unlike other existing wells on the planet, this one was drilled solely from a research point of view and was not used to extract useful resources.

Location of the Kola ultradeep station

Where is the Kola Superdeep Well located? O on is located in the Murmansk region, near the city of Zapolyarny (about 10 kilometers from it). The location of the well is truly unique. It was laid on the territory in the area of ​​the Kola Peninsula. It is where the earth daily pushes various ancient rocks to the surface.

Near the well is the Pechenga-Imandra-Varzuga rift trough, which was formed as a result of a fault.

Kola superdeep well: history of appearance

In honor of the centennial anniversary on the occasion of the birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin in the first half of 1970, the drilling of a well was started.

On May 24, 1970, after the location of the well was approved by the geological expedition, work began. Up to a depth of about 7,000 meters, everything went easily and smoothly. After crossing the seven thousandth milestone, the work became more difficult and constant collapses began to occur.

As a result of constant breakage of lifting mechanisms and breakage of drilling heads, as well as regular collapses, the walls of the well were subject to the cementing process. However, due to constant malfunctions, work continued for several years and went extremely slowly.

On June 6, 1979, the depth of the well crossed the line of 9583 meters, thereby breaking the world record for oil production in the United States of America by Bert Rogers, located in Oklahoma. At that time, about sixteen scientific laboratories were continuously working in the Kola well, and the drilling process was personally controlled by the Minister of Geology Soviet Union Kozlovsky Evgeny Alexandrovich.

In 1983, when the depth of the Kola super-deep well reached 12,066 meters, work was temporarily frozen in connection with preparations for the 1984 International Geological Congress. Upon its completion, work was resumed.

The resumption of work fell on September 27, 1984. But during the first descent, the drill string was cut off, and once again the well collapsed. Work resumed from a depth of about 7 thousand meters.

In 1990, the depth of the drill well reached a record 12,262 meters. After the break of the next column, an order was received to stop drilling the well and complete the work.

The current state of the Kola well

In early 2008, the ultra-deep well on the Kola Peninsula was considered abandoned, the equipment was being dismantled, and a demolition project for existing buildings and laboratories was already underway.

In early 2010, the director of the Kola Geological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences announced that the well had now undergone a conservation process and was being destroyed on its own. Since then, the issue has not been raised.

Well depth to date

Currently, the Kola superdeep well, the photo of which is presented to the reader in the article, is considered one of the largest drilling projects on the planet. Its official depth is 12,263 meters.

Sounds in the Kola well

When the drilling rigs crossed the line of 12 thousand meters, the workers began to hear strange sounds coming from the depths. At first they did not attach any importance to this. However, when all the drilling equipment stopped, and deathly silence hung in the well, unusual sounds were heard, which the workers themselves called “the screams of sinners in hell.” Since the sounds of the ultra-deep well were considered rather unusual, it was decided to record them using heat-resistant microphones. When the recordings were listened to, everyone was amazed - they looked like the screams and squeals of people.

A few hours after listening to the recordings, the workers found traces of a powerful explosion of a previously unknown origin. Work was temporarily stopped until the circumstances were clarified. However, they resumed after a few days. Having again descended into the well, everyone with bated breath expected to hear human cries, but there was truly deathly silence.

When the investigation into the origin of sounds began, questions began to be asked about who heard what. The amazed and frightened workers tried to avoid answering these questions and only brushed off the phrase: “I heard something strange ...” Only later a large number of time and at the end of the project, a version was put forward that the sounds of unknown origin are the sound of the movement of tectonic plates. This version was refuted over time.

The secrets that shrouded the well

In 1989, the Kola super-deep well, the sounds from which excite the human imagination, was called "the road to hell." The legend originated on the air of an American television company, which took an April Fool's article in a Finnish newspaper about the Kola well for reality. The article said that each drilled kilometer on the way to the 13th brought continuous misfortunes to the country. According to the legend, at a depth of 12,000 meters, workers began to imagine human cries for help, which were recorded on ultra-sensitive microphones.

With each new kilometer on the way to the 13th, cataclysms occurred in the country, so the USSR collapsed on the above path.

It was also noted that, having drilled a well up to 14.5 thousand meters, the workers stumbled upon hollow "rooms", the temperature in which reached 1100 degrees Celsius. Having lowered one of the heat-resistant microphones into one of these holes, they recorded groans, gnashes and screams. These sounds were called "the voice of the underworld", and the well itself began to be referred to only as "the road to hell."

However, soon the research team itself disproved this legend. Scientists reported that the depth of the well at that time was only 12,263 meters, and the maximum recorded temperature is 220 degrees Celsius. Only one fact remained unrefuted, thanks to which the Kola super-deep well has such dubious fame - sounds.

Interview with one of the workers of the Kola Superdeep Well

In one of the interviews dedicated to the refutation of the legend of the Kola well, David Mironovich Huberman said: “When they ask me about the veracity of this legend and about the existence of the demon we found there, I answer that this is complete nonsense. But to be honest, I can't deny the fact that we've encountered something supernatural. At first, sounds of unknown origin began to disturb us, then there was an explosion. When we looked into the well, at the same depth, a few days later, everything was absolutely normal ... "

What was the benefit of drilling the Kola super-deep well?

Of course, one of the main advantages of the appearance of this well can be called a significant progress in the field of drilling. New methods and types of drilling have been developed. Also, drilling and scientific equipment was created personally for the Kola superdeep well, which is still used today.

Another plus was the discovery of a new location of valuable natural resources, including gold.

The main scientific goal of the project to study the deep layers of the earth was achieved. Many existing theories were refuted (including those about the basalt layer of the earth).

Number of ultra-deep wells in the world

In total, there are about 25 ultra-deep wells on the planet.

Most of them are located in former USSR, but about 8 are located around the world.

Superdeep wells located on the territory of the former USSR

A huge number of super-deep wells were present on the territory of the Soviet Union, but the following should be especially highlighted:

1. Muruntau well. In depth, the well reaches only 3 thousand meters. It is located in the Republic of Uzbekistan, in the small village of Muruntau. The drilling of the well began in 1984 and has not yet been completed.
2. Krivoy Rog well. In depth it reaches only 5383 meters out of 12 thousand conceived. Drilling began in 1984 and ended in 1993. The location of the well is considered to be Ukraine, the vicinity of the city of Krivoy Rog.
3. Dnieper-Donetsk well. She is a fellow countrywoman of the previous one and is also located in Ukraine, near the Donetsk Republic. The depth of the well today is 5691 meters. Drilling began in 1983 and continues to this day.
4. Ural well. It has a depth of 6100 meters. Located in the Sverdlovsk region, near the town of Verkhnyaya Tura. Work on the software lasted for 20 years, starting in 1985 and ending in 2005.
5. Biikzhal well. Its depth reaches 6700 meters. The well was drilled from 1962 to 1971. It is located on the Caspian lowland.
6. Aralsol well. Its depth is one hundred meters more than Biikzhalskaya and is only 6800 meters. The drilling year and location of the well are completely identical to the Biizhalskaya well.
7. Timan-Pechora well. Its depth reaches 6904 meters. Located in the Komi Republic. To be more precise, in the Vuktyl region. Work on the software lasted about 10 years, from 1984 to 1993.
8. Tyumen well. The depth reaches 7502 meters out of 8000 planned. The well is located near the town and village of Korotchaevo. Drilling took place from 1987 to 1996.
9. Shevchenko well. It was drilled during one year in 1982 with the aim of extracting oil in Western Ukraine. The depth of the well is 7520 meters. Located in the Carpathian region.
10. En-Yakhinskaya well. It has a depth of about 8250 meters. The only well that exceeded the drilling plan (6000 was originally planned). It is located on the territory of Western Siberia, near the city of Novy Urengoy. Drilling lasted from 2000 to 2006. It was currently the last operating ultra-deep well in Russia.
11. Saatlinskaya well. Its depth is 8324 meters. Drilling was carried out between 1977 and 1982. It is located in Azerbaijan, 10 kilometers from the city of Saatly, within the Kursk Bulge.

Worldwide ultra-deep wells

On the territory of other countries there are also a number of super-deep wells that cannot be ignored:

1. Sweden. Silyan Ring with a depth of 6800 meters.
2. Kazakhstan. Tasym South-East with a depth of 7050 meters.
3. USA. The Bighorn is 7583 meters deep.
4. Austria. Zisterdorf with a depth of 8553 meters.
5. USA. University with a depth of 8686 meters.
6. Germany. KTB-Oberpfalz with a depth of 9101 meters.
7. USA. Beydat-Unit with a depth of 9159 meters.
8. USA. Bertha Rogers at a depth of 9583 meters.

World records for ultra-deep wells in the world

In 2008, the world record of the Kola well was broken by the Maersk oil well. Its depth is 12,290 meters.

After that, several more world records for ultra-deep wells were recorded:

1. In early January 2011, the record was broken by the Sakhalin-1 oil well, which reaches a depth of 12,345 meters.
2. In June 2013, the record was broken by the well of the Chayvinskoye field, the depth of which was 12,700 meters.

However, the riddles and mysteries of the Kola super-deep well have not been revealed or explained to this day. Regarding the sounds present during its drilling, new theories have arisen to this day. Who knows, maybe this is really the fruit of a violent human fantasy? Well, then why so many eyewitnesses? Maybe soon there will be a person who will give a scientific explanation of what is happening, or perhaps the well will remain a legend that will be retold for many more centuries...

In the 50-70s of the last century, the world was changing at an incredible speed. Things have appeared, without which it is difficult to imagine today's world: the Internet, a computer, cellular communications, the conquest of space and the depths of the sea appeared. Man was rapidly expanding the spheres of his presence in the Universe, but he still had rather rough ideas about the structure of his "home" - the planet Earth. Although even then the idea of ​​ultra-deep drilling was not new: back in 1958, the Americans launched the Mohole project. Its name is derived from two words:

Moho- a surface named after Andriy Mohorovichich, a Croatian geophysicist and seismologist, who in 1909 identified the lower boundary of the earth's crust, on which an abrupt increase in the speed of seismic waves occurs;
hole- well, hole, orifice. Based on the assumption that the thickness of the earth's crust under the oceans is much less than on land, 5 wells were drilled near the island of Guadelupe with a depth of about 180 meters (with an ocean depth of up to 3.5 km). In five years, the researchers drilled five wells, collected many samples from the basalt layer, but did not reach the mantle. As a result, the project was declared a failure and the work was curtailed.

Penetrating into those secrets that are under our feet is no easier than learning all the secrets of the Universe above our heads. And perhaps even more difficult, because in order to look into the depths of the Earth, a very deep well is needed.

The goals of drilling are different (oil production, for example), but ultra-deep (more than 6 km) wells are primarily needed by scientists who want to know what is interesting inside our planet. Where are such "windows" to the center of the Earth and what is the name of the deepest drilled well, we will tell you in this article. First, just one explanation.

Drilling can be done both vertically downwards and at an angle to the earth's surface. In the second case, the length can be very large, but the depth, if we evaluate it from the mouth (the beginning of the well on the surface) to the very deep point in the bowels, less than those that run perpendicular.

An example is one of the wells of the Chayvinskoye field, the length of which has reached 12,700 m, but in depth it is significantly inferior to the deepest wells.

This well with a depth of 7520 m is located on the territory of modern Western Ukraine. However, work on it was carried out back in the USSR in 1975-1982.

The purpose of creating this one of the deepest wells in the USSR was the extraction of minerals (oil and gas), but the study of the bowels of the earth was also an important task.

9 En-Yakhinskaya well

Not far from the city of Novy Urengoy in the Yamalo-Nenets district. The purpose of drilling the Earth was to determine the composition of the earth's crust at the drilling site and to determine the profitability of developing large depths for mining.

As is usually the case with ultra-deep wells, the subsoil presented the researchers with many "surprises". For example, at a depth of about 4 km, the temperature reached +125 (higher than the calculated one), and after another 3 km, the temperature was already +210 degrees. Nevertheless, scientists completed their research, and in 2006 the well was liquidated.

8 Saatli in Azerbaijan

In the USSR, one of the deepest wells in the world, Saatli, was drilled on the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan. It was planned to bring its depth to 11 km and conduct various studies related to both the structure of the earth's crust and the development of oil at different depths.

Interested in

However, it was not possible to drill such a deep well, as it happens very, very often. During operation, machines often fail due to extremely high temperatures and pressures; the well is curved because the hardness different breeds heterogeneous; often a minor breakdown entails such problems that their solution requires more funds than the creation of a new one.

So in this case, despite the fact that the materials obtained as a result of drilling were very valuable, the work had to be stopped at around 8324 m.

7 Zisterdorf - the deepest in Austria

Another deep well was drilled in Austria, near the town of Zisterdorf. Nearby were gas and oil fields, and geologists hoped that an ultra-deep well would make it possible to make super-profits in the field of mining.

Indeed, natural gas was discovered at a very considerable depth - to the despair of specialists, it was impossible to extract it. Further drilling ended in an accident, the walls of the well collapsed.
It did not make sense to restore, they decided to drill another nearby, but nothing interesting for the industrialists could be found in it.

6 Universities in the USA

One of the deepest wells on Earth is the University in the USA. Its depth is 8686 m. The materials obtained as a result of drilling are of considerable interest, as they give new material about the structure of the planet on which we live.

Surprisingly, as a result, it turned out that it was not scientists who were right, but science fiction writers: there are layers of minerals in the bowels, and life exists at great depths - however, we are talking about bacteria!

In the 1990s, drilling of the ultra-deep well Hauptborung began in Germany. It was planned to bring its depth to 12 km, but, as is usually the case with ultra-deep mines, the plans were not given success. Already at around 7 meters, problems began with the machines: drilling vertically down became impossible, the mine began to deviate more and more to the side. Each meter was given with difficulty, and the temperature grew extremely.

Finally, when the heat reached 270 degrees, and endless accidents and failures exhausted everyone, it was decided to suspend work. This happened at a depth of 9.1 km, which makes the Hauptborung well one of the deepest.

The scientific material obtained from the drilling has become the basis for thousands of studies, and the mine itself is currently used for tourism purposes.

4 Baden Unit

In the US, Lone Star attempted to drill an ultra-deep well in 1970. The location near the city of Anadarko in Oklahoma was not chosen by chance: here, wildlife and high scientific potential create a convenient opportunity for both drilling a well and studying it.

The work was carried out for more than a year, and during this time they drilled to a depth of 9159 m, which makes it possible to include it among the deepest mines in the world.

And finally, we present the three deepest wells in the world. In third place is Bertha Rogers - the world's first ultra-deep well, which, however, did not remain the deepest for long. After only a short time, the deepest well in the USSR, the Kola, appeared.

Bert Rogers was drilled by GHK, a mining company, mainly natural gas. The aim of the work was to search for gas at great depths. Work began in 1970, when very little was known about the earth's interior.

The company had high hopes for a place in Washita County, because there are many minerals in Oklahoma, and at that time scientists thought that there were whole layers of oil and gas in the thickness of the earth. However, 500 days of work and huge funds invested in the project turned out to be useless: the drill melted in a layer of liquid sulfur, and gas or oil could not be found.

In addition, scientific research was not carried out during the drilling, since the well was only of commercial importance.

2 KTB-Oberpfalz

In second place in our ranking is the German well Oberpfalz, which has reached a depth of almost 10 km.

This mine holds the record as the deepest vertical well, since it goes to a depth of 7500 m without deviation to the side! This is an unprecedented figure, because the mines at great depths inevitably bend, but the unique equipment used by scientists from Germany made it possible to move the drill vertically down for a very long time.

Not so big and the difference in diameter. Ultra-deep wells begin on the surface of the earth with a hole of a rather large diameter (at Oberpfalz - 71 cm), and then gradually narrow. At the bottom, the German well has a diameter of only about 16 cm.

The reason why the work had to be stopped is the same as in all other cases - equipment failure due to high temperatures.

1 Kola well - the deepest in the world

We owe a stupid legend to the “duck” launched in the Western press, where, with reference to the mythical “scientist of world renown” Azzakov, it was told about a “creature” that escaped from a mine, the temperature in which reached 1000 degrees, about the groans of millions of people who signed up for microphone down and so on.

At first glance, it is clear that the story is sewn with white thread (and it was published, by the way, on April Fool's Day): the temperature in the mine was no higher than 220 degrees, however, with it, as well as at 1000 degrees, no microphone can work ; creatures did not break out, and the named scientist does not exist.

The Kola well is the deepest in the world. Its depth reaches 12262 m, which significantly exceeds the depth of other mines. But not length! At least three wells can now be named - Qatar, Sakhalin-1 and one of the wells of the Chayvo field (Z-42) - which are longer, but not deeper.
Kolskaya gave scientists colossal material, which has not yet been fully processed and comprehended.

In 1970, just in time for Lenin's 100th birthday, Soviet scientists launched one of the most ambitious projects of our time. On the Kola Peninsula, ten kilometers from the village of Zapolyarny, drilling of a well began, which as a result turned out to be the deepest in the world and entered the Guinness Book of Records.

The grandiose scientific project has been going on for more than twenty years. He brought a lot of interesting discoveries, went down in the history of science, and in the end was overgrown with so many legends, rumors and gossip that would be enough for more than one horror movie.

USSR. Kola Peninsula. October 1, 1980. Leading well drillers reaching a record depth of 10,500 meters

entrance to hell

During its heyday, the drilling rig on the Kola Peninsula was a cyclopean structure 20-story high. Up to three thousand people worked here per shift. The team was led by leading geologists of the country. The drilling rig was built in the tundra ten kilometers from the village of Zapolyarny, and in the polar night it shone with lights like a spaceship.

When all this splendor suddenly closed and the lights went out, rumors immediately spread. By all measures, the drilling was remarkably successful. No one in the world has yet managed to reach such a depth - Soviet geologists lowered the drill more than 12 kilometers.

The sudden end of a successful project looked as ridiculous as the fact that the Americans closed the program of flights to the moon. Aliens were blamed for the collapse of the lunar project. In the problems of the Kola Superdeep - devils and demons.

A popular legend says that from great depths, the drill was repeatedly taken out melted. There were no physical reasons for this - the temperature underground did not exceed 200 degrees Celsius, and the drill was designed for a thousand degrees. Then the audio sensors allegedly began to pick up some moans, screams and sighs. Dispatchers who monitored the instrument readings complained about the sensations panic fear and anxiety.

According to legend, it turned out that geologists had drilled to hell. The groans of sinners, extremely high temperatures, the atmosphere of horror at the drilling rig - all this explained why all work on the Kola Superdeep was suddenly curtailed.

Many were skeptical about these rumors. However, in 1995, after the work was stopped, a powerful explosion occurred at the drilling rig. Nobody understood what could explode there, even the head of the entire project, a prominent geologist David Guberman.

Today, excursions are led to the abandoned drilling rig and they tell tourists a fascinating story about how scientists drilled a hole into the underworld of the dead. As moaning ghosts roam the installation, and in the evening demons crawl out to the surface and strive to sneak into the abyss of a gaping extreme seeker.

underground moon

In fact, the whole story with the “well to hell” was invented by Finnish journalists by April 1st. Their comic article was reprinted by American newspapers, and the duck flew to the masses. Long-term drilling of the Kola superdeep proceeded without any mysticism. But what happened there in reality was more interesting than any legends.

To begin with, ultra-deep drilling by definition was doomed to numerous accidents. Under the yoke of gigantic pressure (up to 1000 atmospheres) and high temperatures, the drills could not withstand, the well was clogged, the pipes that strengthened the vent were broken. Countless times the narrow well was bent so that new branches had to be drilled.

The worst accident occurred shortly after the main triumph of geologists. In 1982, they were able to overcome the mark of 12 kilometers. These results were solemnly announced in Moscow at the International Geological Congress. Geologists from all over the world were brought to the Kola Peninsula, they were shown a drilling rig and rock samples mined at a fantastic depth that mankind had never reached before.

After the celebration, drilling continued. However, the break in work proved fatal. In 1984, the most terrible accident occurred at the drilling rig. As many as five kilometers of pipes came off and hammered the well. It was impossible to continue drilling. The results of five years of work were lost overnight.

I had to resume drilling from the 7-kilometer mark. Only in 1990, geologists again managed to cross over 12 kilometers. 12,262 meters - this is the final depth of the Kola well.

But in parallel with the terrible accidents, incredible discoveries also followed. Deep drilling is an analogue of a time machine. On the Kola Peninsula, the oldest rocks, whose age exceeds 3 billion years, come to the surface. Climbing deeper and deeper, scientists have gained a clear idea of ​​​​what happened on our planet during its youth.

First of all, it turned out that the traditional scheme of the geological section, compiled by scientists, does not correspond to reality. “Up to 4 kilometers, everything went according to theory, and then the doomsday began,” Huberman later said.

According to calculations, having drilled a layer of granite, it was supposed to get to even harder, basalt rocks. But there was no basalt. After the granite came loose layered rocks, which constantly crumbled and made it difficult to move inland.

But among the rocks 2.8 billion years old, fossilized microorganisms were found. This made it possible to clarify the time of the origin of life on Earth. Huge deposits of methane have been found at even greater depths. This clarified the question of the origin of hydrocarbons - oil and gas.

And at a depth of more than 9 kilometers, scientists discovered a gold-bearing olivine layer, so vividly described by Alexei Tolstoy in the Hyperboloid of Engineer Garin.

But the most fantastic discovery occurred in the late 1970s, when the Soviet lunar station brought back samples of lunar soil. Geologists were amazed to see that its composition completely coincides with the composition of the rocks they mined at a depth of 3 kilometers. How was it possible?

The fact is that one of the hypotheses of the origin of the Moon suggests that several billion years ago the Earth collided with some kind of celestial body. As a result of the collision, a piece broke off from our planet and turned into a satellite. It is possible that this piece came off in the area of ​​the current Kola Peninsula.

The final

So why did they close the Kola Superdeep?

Firstly, the main tasks of the scientific expedition were completed. Unique equipment for drilling at great depths was created, tested under extreme conditions and noticeably improved. The collected rock samples were studied and described in detail. The Kola well helped to better understand the structure of the earth's crust and the history of our planet.

Secondly, time itself was not conducive to such ambitious projects. In 1992, the scientific expedition was closed funding. Employees quit and went home. But even today, the grandiose building of the drilling rig and the mysterious well impress with their scale.

Sometimes it seems that the Kola Superdeep has not yet exhausted the entire supply of its miracles. The head of the famous project was also sure of this. “We have the deepest hole in the world - this is how you should use it!” exclaimed David Huberman.

I want to tell you about the famous super-deep well Kolskaya. It is unlikely that many people knew (like me, until my father told me) that the Kola SG-3 well is the deepest drilled well in the world (until 2008). While still studying at the institute, the teachers carried legends about the Kolskaya well from corner to corner, although many of our teachers had nothing to do with drilling, etc. at all.

General review:

Kola Superdeep Well ( SG-3) is the deepest borehole in the world. It is located in the Murmansk region, 10 kilometers west of the city of Zapolyarny, on the territory of the geological Baltic Shield. Its depth is 12,262 meters. Unlike other ultra-deep wells that were made for oil production or exploration, SG-3 was drilled exclusively for the study of the lithosphere in the place where the Mohorovichic boundary comes close to the Earth's surface.

It was also the deepest well until 2008 when it was bypassed by the 12,290 meter Maersk Oil BD-04A oil well drilled at an acute angle to the ground (located in the Al Shaheen Oil Basin, Qatar), after which in January 2011 this the well was also bypassed by the oil well of the Odoptu-Sea field of the Sakhalin-1 project, also drilled at an acute angle to the surface of the earth, with a length of 12,345 meters.

Well from the point of view of science:

When, at the end of the last century, the drilling of the famous Kola super-deep well was started, the media wrote that in the very thickness of the earth, the microphones of scientists recorded screams and groans ... Is the Hell really there? Like it or not, but what the researchers saw radically changed the traditional ideas about the structure of the upper layer of the Earth.

For a long time, people have tried to understand how the bowels of our planet are arranged. However, for a long time it was not possible to drill the earth's firmament more than a few hundred meters - there was no necessary equipment. Therefore, all ideas about internal structure Earths are based mainly on theoretical calculations, which have not yet been confirmed by experimental data.

According to the generally accepted point of view, the Earth consists of three large layers: the core, the mantle and the earth's crust. In the center is the core, divided into the inner hard area(with a radius of about 1300 km) and a liquid outer core with a radius of about 2200 km, between which a transition zone is sometimes distinguished. It is believed that this region of the planet is composed of an iron-nickel alloy.

Next is the mantle - a layer consisting of silicates of magnesium, iron, calcium and other metals. It extends from depths of 5-70 kilometers below the boundary with the earth's crust, to the boundary with the core at a depth of 2900 km. It is believed that the mantle is quite hot and in some of its layers the substance is in a molten state.

The upper layers of the mantle are in contact with the earth's crust - the very layer on which we, in fact, live. The thickness of this outer shell varies from several kilometers (in the oceanic regions) to several tens of kilometers (in the mountainous regions of the continents). The sphere of the earth's crust is very small, accounting for only about 0.5% of the total mass of the planet. The main composition of the crust is oxides of silicon, aluminum, iron and alkali metals.

It is believed that in the composition of the continental crust, which contains the upper (granite) and lower (basalt) layers under the sedimentary layer, there are the most ancient rocks of the Earth, whose age is estimated at more than 3 billion years. The oceanic crust is younger and thinner - under the accumulation of sediments (their age does not exceed 100-150 million years) there is only one layer, close in composition to basalt.

It turns out that for the entire time of their existence, people have not really been able to explore even the earth's crust, and for many years none of the scientists even dared to dream of "feeling" the mantle or the core. However, in the middle of the 20th century, the equipment necessary for such research was finally developed, and the dream began to turn into reality.

Projects for traveling deep into the Earth appeared in the early 60s of the last century in several countries at once. They tried to drill wells in those places where the earth's crust should have been thinner, since the purpose of such drilling was to reach the mantle, which, in fact, they were going to explore in detail.

For example, the Americans drilled in the area of ​​the island of Maui, Hawaii, where, according to seismic studies, ancient rocks go under the ocean floor and the mantle is located at a depth of about five kilometers (under a four-kilometer water column). Nevertheless, not a single ocean drilling rig deeper than 3 kilometers could break through.

In general, almost all ultra-deep well projects mysteriously ended at a depth of three kilometers. It was at this moment that something strange began to happen to the Boers: either they fell into unexpected areas with high temperatures, or they seemed to be bitten off by some mysterious underground demon. So in most cases it was not even possible to study the composition of the deep layers of the earth's crust, not to mention the mantle, the study of which, in fact, was the real goal of such studies.

Start drilling:

Kola drilling. Residential town and auxiliary workshops

And so, in 1970, drilling of the famous Kola well began on the Kola Peninsula. The drilling point was chosen in this place of the peninsula not by chance - the peninsula is located on the so-called Baltic Shield, which is composed of the most ancient rocks known to mankind. Work on this object was carried out from 1970 to 1992, during which time it was possible to "pierce" the earth's crust by 12,262 meters.

Interestingly, when the International Geological Congress was held in Moscow in 1984, at which the first results of the well research were presented, many scientists jokingly suggested that it be immediately buried, since it destroys all ideas about the structure of the earth's crust. Indeed, oddities began even at the first stages of penetration. So, for example, theorists had promised even before drilling began that the temperature of the Baltic Shield would remain relatively low to a depth of at least 15 kilometers. Accordingly, it will be possible to dig a well up to almost 20 kilometers, just up to the mantle.

However, already at a depth of five kilometers, the ambient temperature exceeded 700C, at seven - over 1200C, and at a depth of 12 kilometers, the sensors recorded as much as 2200C - 1000C higher than predicted. Scientists have not yet found an explanation for this phenomenon.

The well also did not confirm the idea of ​​​​the structure of the earth's crust in the likeness of a layer cake - first sedimentary rocks, then granites, and basalts at the bottom. However, according to the drillers, the granites turned out to be 3 kilometers lower than the scientists expected. And there was no basalt layer at all - the last 6 kilometers made their way exclusively through granite. Scientists believe that the Kola drillers, without realizing it, made a discovery that is extremely important for all mankind.

The Kola superdeep well gave the researchers another surprise: life on planet Earth arose, it turns out, 1.5 billion years earlier than expected. At depths where it was believed that there was no organic matter, 14 types of fossilized microorganisms were found, and in fact the age of these deep layers exceeded 2.8 billion years. But, most surprisingly, at even greater depths, where there are no sedimentary rocks, natural gas methane was found in huge concentrations. This completely and utterly destroyed the theory of the biological origin of hydrocarbons such as oil and gas.

Not only scientific sensations were also associated with the Kola well, but also mysterious legends, most of which turned out to be fiction of journalists during verification. According to one of them (born by the authors of the reports of a Finnish newspaper), in the very thickness of the earth, at a depth of over 12 thousand meters, the microphones of scientists recorded cries and groans.

Myths or reality:

The journalists, without even thinking about the fact that it is simply not possible to stick a microphone to such a depth (what sound recording device can work at temperatures above two hundred degrees?), wrote about the fact that the drillers heard a "voice from the underworld." After these publications, the Kola super-deep well began to be called the "road to hell", arguing that each new kilometer drilled brought misfortune to the country.

It was said that when the drillers were drilling the thirteenth thousand meters, the USSR collapsed. Well, when the well was drilled to a depth of 14.5 km (which actually did not happen), they suddenly stumbled upon unusual voids. Intrigued by this unexpected discovery, the drillers lowered down a microphone capable of operating under extremely high temperatures, and other sensors. The temperature inside allegedly reached 1,100 ° C - there was the heat of the fiery chambers, in which, allegedly, human screams could be heard.

This legend still roams the vast expanses of the Internet, having survived the very culprit of these gossip - the Kola well. Work on it was stopped back in 1992 due to lack of funding. Until 2008, it was in a mothballed state. And two years ago, the final decision was made to abandon the continuation of research and dismantle the entire research complex, and "bury" the well. The final liquidation of the well took place this summer.

So, as you can see, this time the scientists were not able to get to the mantle and explore it. However, this does not mean that the Kola well did not give anything to science - on the contrary, it turned all their ideas about the structure of the earth's crust upside down. Perhaps the researchers of the current oil well Maersk Oil (12,290 meters deep - which is 28 meters deeper than the Kola), which is located in the Al Shahin oil basin, in Qatar.
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Materials: Alexey Voskoboynik (alex_oil), Wikipedia and Internet sources about the Kola well