Japanese researchers aim to drill Earth’s mantle for the first time

Japan’s Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology’s (JAMSTEC’s) largest drilling ship called “Chikyu” is very real, and a group of international researchers plan to use it to drill into the Earth’s mantle for the first time.

The JAMSTEC-led team will conduct a two-week preliminary study in the waters off Hawaii this September to determine if that’s where their Chikyu should drill.

If the location doesn’t work, they’ll look at their other choices in the waters off Costa Rica and off Mexico.

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All three are in the ocean, because the continental crust is twice as thick as the oceanic crust.

Chikyu’s drill will have to go through 2.5 miles of water and 3.7 miles of crust to be able to reach the mantle, which makes up roughly 84 percent of our planet’s volume.

It’s a silicate rocky shell that flows slowly and affects volcanic activity, as well as the motion of tectonic plates that causes earthquakes.

The Japanese government is providing partial funding for the project in hopes that it will lead to better ways to predict the surface phenomena. As you might know, the country was rocked by some particularly strong ones in recent years.

 

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