An Asian giant has proposed a project to observe the crust over 10,000 meters deep, what is its goal?
China is Dig a hole more than 11 km deep, Its size is larger than Everest.
Exploration work began last Tuesday, according to Xinhua. Workers use tools to Drilling a well in Taklamakan, The second largest sand dune desert in the world, located in the northwest of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
The design of the well in question aims to reach a staggering depth of 11,100 meters. Chinese officials have high hopes that more than 10 layers of Cretaceous crust can be penetrated during the drilling process.
According to the state-run Xinhua News Agency, it is expected that: Reaching strata dating back to the Cretaceous, Between 145 million and 66 million years ago.
The project is estimated to last 457 days and requires operators to handle over 2,000 tons of equipment and machinery. The Tarim Basin, where the project is located, is recognized as one of the most difficult areas for exploration, according to the Xinhua News Agency. This is due to its harsh aboveground environment and harsh underground environment.
This 11-kilometre-plus well is therefore an opportunity to study the depths of the earth. According to Chinese scholar Sun Jinsheng, the difficulty of constructing a drilling project is “compared to driving a heavy truck over two thin steel cables.”
Purpose of the project
State-owned petrochemical company Sinopec, which is leading the project, said its goals were: “Extending the limits of depth” in geological exploration.
Work on drilling China’s deepest hole began two years after Chinese President Xi Jinping urged the local scientific community to go ahead with exploring the depths of the earth’s crust.
Liu Xiaogang, president of China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), one of China’s largest oil and gas companies and one of the largest companies, said, “Well drilling serves two purposes. Research and oil and gas discovery.” world.
In a briefing video, the official assured that the project will help boost the technical capabilities of PetroChina, a Hong Kong-listed CNPC-owned giant, in deep drilling and manufacturing new machinery.
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“To study the nearest 10 kilometers to the surface, we typically use seismic tomography or other types of techniques. This type of project is very useful because it provides the physical evidence to support this study.” Chilean geophysicist Christian Farias, head of civil engineering and geology at Temuco Catholic University, told BBC Mundo.
In addition, he said that the Chinese project “Try the latest technological advances” And it could be a very exciting era of exploration.
Hole more than 11 kilometers deep in China
Regarding the second objective, CNPC suggested that it is exploring new ultra-deep oil and gas fields in the northwestern part of the Asian country.
Hydrocarbon deposits are commonly found at extreme depths below ground (usually less than 5,000 meters) and in marine areas such as oceans where the layers of rock and sediment are the thickest. However, they also exist in certain land areas such as deep sedimentary basins.
This is the case in the Tarim Basin, home to the Taklamakan Desert, which has large reserves of oil and natural gas.
However, exploitation of these resources comes with significant technical and engineering challenges due to difficult subsoil conditions such as high pressure and extreme temperatures.
Source: Biobiochile
