The deepest well of Soviet scientists. Well in the Murmansk region. Dimensions of the deepest well

In one of the scientific gears, a simple example was given, allowing to realize how much our planet is enormous. Imagine a big balloon. This is the whole planet. And the finest walls is a zone on which there is life. And people mastered in fact only one layer of atoms surrounding this wall.

But humanity constantly seeks to expand its knowledge of the planet and the processes occurring. We launch space ships and satellites, stand submarines, but the harder to know what is under our feet, inside the Earth.

Relative understanding bring wells. With their help, you can find out the composition of the breeds, study changes in physical conditions, as well as conduct exploration of minerals. And most of all the information, of course bring the deepest well in the world. The only question is exactly where it is located. In this today we will try to figure it out.

OR-11.

It is not surprising that the longest well was made quite recently, in 2011. To achieve this result allowed new, more advanced technologies, durable and reliable materials, accurate calculation techniques.

Surely you will be pleased to know that it is in Russia, and was drilled in the framework of the Sakhalin-1 project. All work required only 60 days, which is much superior to the results of previous surveys.

The total length is a record well of 12 kilometers of 345 meters, which remains unsurpassed record. Another achievement is the maximum length of the horizontal trunk, which makes up 11 kilometers of 475 meters. So far, no one could surpass this result. But this is still.

BD-04A.

This oil well in Qatar is known thanks to a record depth at that time. Its full length is 12 kilometers of 289 meters, of which 10,902 meters are a horizontal trunk. It was built, by the way, in 2008, and had held a record for three more years.

But this deep well is known not only to impressive sizes, but also a very sad fact. It was built next to the oil shelf for geo-spoken, and in 2010 there was a serious accident on it.

So the well looks now

Bored back during the USSR, the Kola ultra-deep well in 2008 lost the title of leader. But still, it remains one of the most famous objects of this type and continues to hold the prize third place.

Work preparation work was launched back in 1970. It was planned that this well will become the deepest on earth, reaching a mark of 15 kilometers. True, it never happened to achieve such a result. In 1992, the work was suspended when the depth reached an impressive value of 12 kilometers of 262 meters. Further surveys had to be stopped due to the lack of funding and supporting the state.

With it, it was possible to get a lot of interesting scientific data, to deeper the structure of the earth's crust. This is just not surprising, because the project was initially completely scientific, not related to geological exploration or study of mineral deposits.

By the way, the popular legend of the "Well in Heal" is connected to the Kola ultra-double well. They say that reaching the mark of 11 kilometers, scientists heard terrifying screams. And soon after that, the boring broke. According to legend, this indicates the existence of hell underground, in which sinners suffer. They were their cries and were heard by scientists.

True, the legend does not withstand any criticism. If only because no acoustic equipment could operate at pressure and temperature at these marks. But, on the other hand, it is quite interesting to argue that the deepest bore can be achieved if not hell, then any other legendary and mythical places.

In the meantime, they just help scientists best understand how our planet lives. And although before traveling to the center of the earth is still very far away, people are clearly aspire.

Rain, fog, ten degrees Celsius. This is called polar summer ...

The grader-goes into the sky is a technological road, and here we should not be. Click to the right, to the sideline, to miss the hard truck going going to meet the column, writes Artem Achkasov

High bodies up to top are loaded with black gravel - sulphide copper-nickel ore. Climbing above, and here already viscous cloud flipped off our "Fords", climbed the ragged leashes of wipers. But visibility did not become better - only the rear lights in front of a walking car are visible in a thick white cotton. Carefully make their way between tercrions.

Suddenly, huge concrete buildings are growing in the fog, similar to factory buildings.

Welcome to the object SG-3, also known as the Kola ultra-dust well. More precisely, the fact that it remains ...

Ruthless thing - story. Her pages are torn, rewrite, change places. The fact that every Soviet schoolboy or student knew now does not matter, he has no place in the overcrowded various memory entertainment. Under scientific achievements it is understood as a new application for the smartphone. Achievements of Russian science are little known. Achievements of Soviet science are ridiculed or forgotten. Meanwhile, on a number of directions, Soviet scientists were actually ahead of the planet all. It concerned this and geological research.

It was with scientific purposes in 1970 that the project of the Kola ultra-deep well launched. A place near the city-plant Nickel in the Murmansk region was chosen non-random - first, thanks to the valuable abundance in this region of valuable resources (nickel, apatite, titanium, copper, and so on). Secondly, it is here that the lower boundary of the earth's crust is suitable as close as possible to the surface. And this means that drilling here the ultra-double well would help not only to identify the reserves of minerals (in particular, to explore the deep structure of the Pechenga Nickel field), but also to answer questions about the structure of the Earth, which in those years scientists had a very approximate understanding. Among other tasks was the comprehensive testing of deep drilling technology, in order to improve the new generation of equipment for observation, research, automation and control of the drilling process.

At first, drilling was produced by the serial installation of Uralmash-4E, intended for petroleum wells. Before the depth in 2000 meters, the trunk was held with steel drill pipes, which were later replaced with aluminum due to their smaller weight and greater strength. At the end, Turbobobur - a turbine is 46 meters long with a destructive crown at the end, which was driven by an clay solution, which was pumped into a pipe under pressure in 40 atmospheres.

To achieve a 7264 meter mark, the penetration was carried out by a more advanced complex "Uralmash-15000", which was the embodiment of Soviet science and technology. The system worked with a large number of electronics and automation. Carbide crowns were replaced with diamond. In the conditions of high soil density, the resource of the crown did not exceed four hours, i.e. from six to ten meters of deepening. After that, it was necessary to raise and disassemble the entire multi-torque column of 33 meter pipes, which closer to 12 kilometer depth took at least 18 hours.

You ask, why all these difficulties? The fact is that almost every meter of the penetration was accompanied by a scientific discovery. In the best years, almost two dozen scientific laboratories worked at SG-3. The study of the samples of the rock raised in the core and the descent in the well of special equipment completely turned the theoretical knowledge of scientists about the structure of the Earth. So, the granite belt turned out to be much thicker than scientists believed. Basalt at the expected depth was not at all - instead, porous granite rocks went instead, which carried out to multiple collapse and accidents on the drill. At a great depth, petsenger microorganisms were discovered, which made it possible to argue that life on the planet appeared at least one and a half billion years earlier than before that. The approval of scientists about the temperature modes in the depths of the planet was not confirmed - there was much hotter ...

Of course, drilling such a deep well was very expensive. Soil collars led to accidents, trunk curvatures. The next accident at a depth of 12,262 meters, practically coincident in time with the collapse of the USSR, was the last in the history of Kola ultra-deep. To finance this project was no one. In the middle of the nineties, the well was canned. Third years later - finally abandoned, while staying at that time the deepest well in the world (and the only ones drilled with scientific purposes).

Of course, then the station, once giving the world dozens of scientific discoveries every year, was completely looted.

All buildings are destroyed, including the 70th meter tower, in which the drilling rig was placed. At the SG-3 facility, rare visitors feel stalkers.

Loudly crunch under the legs of the debris of the previous world. Broken glass, ceramics, rusty iron, brick debris.

Before the main building lies the casique conveyor casket.

In the walls of the enclosures - breaks. Obviously, someone thus pulled out expensive equipment.

Chemicals are scattered in the former laboratories.

Instead of expensive electronics, electricians and automation - empty cabinets, torn from fasteners.

Suddenly, diesel caravan is heard in the fog cloud. Instinctively, bend for the collapsing overlaps. The old minibus Mercedes is slowly driving up to the destroyed building. Open rear door claps on a rusty body. Metal hunters continue their black business ...

It occupies the first position in the list of "ultra-deep well of the world." It was drilled in order to study the structure of deep earthly breeds. Unlike other available wells of the planet, this has been drilled exclusively from a research point of view and was not used to mining useful resources.

Location of Kola ultra-deep station

Where is the Kola ultra-deep well? ABOUTon 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 \u200b\u200bthe Kola Peninsula. It is where the land every day pushes various ancient rocks to the surface.

Near the well there is Pechenga-Imandra-Warzugian riftogenic deflection, resulting from a fault.

Kola ultra-deep well: the history of appearance

In honor of the century of anniversary on the occasion of the birthday of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, in the first half of 1970, the beginning of the drilling of the well was laid.

On May 24, 1970, after approval by the geological expedition of the location of the well, the work was started. Up to the depth of about 7 thousand meters everything went easy and smoothly. After the intersection of the seven thousandth turn, the work went more difficult and permanent collaboration began to occur.

As a result of constant closens of lifting mechanisms and bugs of drill heads, as well as regular walls of the wells, the cementing is subject to the process. However, due to permanent problems, work continued for several years and was extremely slow.

On June 6, 1979, the depth of the well crossed the border of 9583 meters, thereby having broken the world record of oil production in the United States of America Berta Rogers, located in Oklahoma. At this time, in the Kola well, the order of sixteen scientific laboratories continuously worked, and the drilling process was controlled personally by the Minister of Geology of the Soviet Union Kozlovsky Evgeny Alexandrovich.

In 1983, when the depth of the Kola ultra-deep well reached 12,066 meters, the work was temporarily frozen in connection with the preparation for the International Geological Congress of 1984. At its end, work was resumed.

The renewal of works fell on September 27, 1984. But on the first descent, the drilling column was torn off, and once again there was a borehole. Work resumed from the depth of about 7 thousand meters.

In 1990, the depth of the drill well reached a record 12,62 meters. After the cliff, the next column received an order to stop drilling well and complete the work.

The current state of the Kola well

In early 2008, the superhong of the well on the Kola Peninsula was considered abandoned, the equipment was dismantled, and a project to demolish the existing buildings and laboratories was already launched.

In early 2010, the director of the Kola Geological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences reported that at present the well was subjected to the conservation process and destroyed independently. Since then, the question has not risen.

The depth of the well today

Currently, the Kola ultra-deep well, the photo of which are represented by the reader in the article, is considered one of the large-scale drill projects on the planet. Its official depth is 12,63 meters.

Sounds in the Kola Well

When the drill plants crossed the frontier of 12 thousand meters, the workers began to hear strange sounds emanating from the depth. At first they did not attach importance to this. However, when all the drilling techniques silence, and in the well there was a coffin silence, the unusual sounds came, which the workers themselves called "screams of sinners in hell". Since the sounds of the superhong of the well were considered rather unusual, it was decided to record them with the help of heat-resistant microphones. When the records were listened, everyone was amazed - they were like shouts and screams of people.

A few hours after listening to records, workers found traces of a powerful explosion of previously unknown origin. The works were temporarily discontinued until the circumstances clarify. However, they were resumed after a few days. Having descended again in the well, all with a fading of the heart expected to hear the human shouts, but there was truly a sobral silence.

When the proceedings began on the origin of sounds, questions began to be asked about who I heard. The affected and frightened workers tried to avoid response to these questions and only disgusted by the phrase: "I heard something strange ..." Only a few times and after closing the project, the version was put forward that the sounds of unexplored origin were the sound of tectonic plates. This version was refuted with time.

Seculate wells

In 1989, the Kola ultra-deep well, the sounds of which excitement of the human imagination was called "Road to Hell". The legend originated on the air of the American television company, who perceived the firsthapel article in the Finnish newspaper about the Kola wells for reality. The article stated that each drilled kilometer on the way to the 13th brought a solid misfortune country. As the legende says, at a depth of 12 thousand meters, workers have been shattered by human cries about the help, which were recorded on ultra-sensitive microphones.

With each new kilometer on the way to the 13th in the country there were cataclysms, so, on the above route was collapsed by the USSR.

Also noted that, drilling a well to 14.5 thousand meters, the workers stumbled into void "rooms", the temperatures in which reached 1,100 degrees Celsius. Lowering one of the heat-resistant microphones into one of these holes, recorded moans, crops and screams. These sounds were called "voice of hell", and the well itself became referred to as "the road to hell".

However, soon the research team itself has refuted this legend. Scientists reported that the depth of the well at that time was only 12,263 meters, and the maximum fixed temperature is 220 degrees Celsius. Only one fact remains irrefutable, thanks to which there has such a dubious glory of the Kola ultra-deep well, - sounds.

Interview with one of the workers of the Kola ultra-deep well

In one of the interviews dedicated to the refutation of the legend of the Kola well, David Mironovich Guberman said: "When I ask me about the truthfulness of this legend and about the existence of a demon, which we found there, I answer that this is a complete nonsense. But if you are honest, I can not refute the fact that we encountered something supernatural. At first we began to disturb the incomprehensible origin of the sounds, then there was an explosion. When we looked into the well, on the same depth, a few days later, everything was absolutely normal ... "

What benefits brought by the drilling of the Kola ultra-deep well?

Of course, one of the main advantages of the appearance of this well can be called significant progress in the field of drilling. New methods and types of drilling were developed. Also personally for the Kola ultra-double well created drill and scientific equipment, which is used to this day.

Another advantage was the opening of a new location of valuable natural resources, including gold.

The main scientific goal of the project for the study of the deep layers of land has been achieved. Many existing theories (including about the basalt layer of the Earth) were refuted.

The number of ultrahooth wells of the world

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

Most of them is located on the territory of the former USSR, however, about 8 are located all over the world.

Ultra-deep wells located on the territory of the former USSR

In the territory of the Soviet Union, there was a huge number of ultra-short wells, but such: such:

1. Murutau well. In the depths of the well reaches only 3 thousand meters. Located in the Republic of Uzbekistan, in a small village Murutau. The drilling of the well began since 1984 and has not yet been completed.
2. Krivoy Rogo well. In the depth reaches only 5383 meters from 12 thousand conceived. Drilling began in 1984 and ended in 1993. The location of the well is Ukraine, the neighborhood of the city of Krivoy Rog.
3. Dneprovsko-Donetsk well. It is a barehouse 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 the present.
4. Ural well. Holds a depth of 6100 meters. Located in the Sverdlovsk region, near the city of Upper Tour. Works lasting for 20 years, starting from 1985 and ending 2005.
5. Bikhikhlskaya well. Its depth reaches 6,700 meters. Drilling well took place from 1962 to 1971. It is located on the Caspian lowland.
6. Aralsol well. Its depth of one hundred meters more than Bichagal and is only 6,800 meters. The year of drilling and the location of the well are completely identical with the Biizhal well.
7. Timan-Pechora well. Its depth reaches 6904 meters. Located in the Komi Republic. To be more accurate, then in the Vuktyl area. Works last about 10 years, starting from 1984 ending 1993.
8. Tyumen well. Depth reaches 7502 meters from 8000 planned. There is a well near the city and the village of Korochuevo. Drilling took place from 1987 to 1996.
9. Shevchenko well. It was drilled during one 1982 in order to mining oil in Western Ukraine. The depth of the well is 7520 meters. Located in the Carpathian district.
10. EN-Yakhinskaya well. It has a depth of about 8250 meters. The only well, which exceeded the drilling plan (was originally planned 6000). Located in Western Siberia, near New Urengoy. Drilling lasted from 2000 to 2006. Currently, there was a last active borehole in Russia.
11. Saatlinskaya well. Its depth is 8324 meters. Drilling was carried out in the period from 1977 to 1982. It is located in Azerbaijan, 10 kilometers from the city of Satail, within the Kursk Arc.

World ultra-deep wells

On the territory of other countries, there are also a number of ultra-deep wells that can not be bypass:

1. Sweden. Silyan Ring is a depth of 6,800 meters.
2. Kazakhstan. Tasim southeast depth of 7050 meters.
3. USA. Bighorn depth of 7583 meters.
4. Austria. Creekdorf is a depth of 8553 meters.
5. USA. University depth of 8686 meters.
6. Germany. KTB-Oberpfalz depth is 9101 meters.
7. USA. Beydat-unit depth of 9159 meters.
8. USA. Berta Rogers depth is 9583 meters.

World records in ultra-deep wells in the world

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

After that, several more world rectors of ultra-deep wells were recorded:

1. In early January 2011, the record was beaten by a well for the production of oil production "Sakhalin-1", which reaches 12,345 meters.
2. In June 2013, the record breaks the well of the Chavinsky field, the depth of which was 12,700 meters.

However, the riddles and secrets of the Kola superhong of the well until today are not disclosed and not explained. Regarding sounds present during its drilling, new theories arise to this day. Who knows him, maybe this is really the fruit of a stormy human imagination? Well, where then so many eyewitnesses? Maybe, soon there is a person who will give a scientific explanation of what is happening, and possibly a well will remain a legend that will retell many more centuries ...

Today, scientific research of mankind got to the frontiers of the Solar System: we landed the spacecraft on the planets, their satellites, asteroids, comets, sent missions to the koiper belt and crossed the Geliopausea border. With the help of telescopes, we see events that happened 13 billion years ago - when the universe turned only a few hundred million years. Against this, it is interesting to evaluate how well we know our land. The best way to find out its inner structure is to drill well: the deeper, the better. The deepest well on Earth - Kola ultra-deep, or SG-3. In 1990, its depth reached 12 kilometers of 262 meters. If you compare this figure with the radius of our planet, it turns out that it is only 0.2 percent of the way to the center of the Earth. But even this turned out to be enough to turn the ideas about the structure of the earth's crust.

If you imagine a well as a mine, which can be descended on the elevator at the very beginning of the Earth or at least a couple of kilometers, then it is not at all. The diameter of the drilling instrument, with which engineers created a well, was only 21.4 centimeters. The upper two-kilometer borehole segment is slightly wider - it was expanded to 39.4 centimeters, but still a person does not get there. To imagine the proportions of the well, the best analogy will be a 57-meter sewing needle with a diameter of 1 millimeter, a little thickened from one end.

Scheme of well

But this view will be simplified. During the drilling, several accidents occurred on the well - part of the drilling column at the same time turned out to be extracting without possible. Therefore, several times the well started to go back, from seven marks and nine kilometers. There are four large branches and about a dozen small. The main branches have a different limit depth: two of them cross the mark of 12 kilometers, two more do not reach it only 200-400 meters. Note that the depth of Mariana depression per kilometer is less than 10,994 meters relative to the sea level.

Horizontal (left) and vertical projection trajectories SG-3

Yu.N. Yakovlev et al. / Bulletin of the Kola Scientific Center RAS, 2014

Moreover, it would be a mistake to perceive the well as a sheer line. Due to the fact that at different depths of the breed have different mechanical properties, the bur during work deviated to less dense areas. Therefore, on a large scale, the profile of Kola ultragool looks like a little curved wire with several branches.

Going to the well today, we will see only the upper part - a metal hatch, screwed to the mouth of twelve massive bolts. The inscription on it is made with an error, the right depth is 12,622 meters.

How did the ultra-deep well drill?

First, it should be noted that SG-3 was originally conceived precisely for scientific purposes. The researchers chose a place for drilling, where ancient breeds were published on the surface of the Earth - age up to three billion years. One of the arguments during intelligence was that young sedimentary breeds were well studied in oil production, and no one was drilling deep into the ancient layers. In addition, large copper-nickel deposits were also here, whose intelligence would be a useful addition to the scientific science mission.

Drilling began in 1970. The first part of the well was drilled by the serial installation of Uralmash-4E - it was commonly used to drill oil wells. The installation modification made it possible to reach a depth of 7 kilometers of 263 meters. It took this four years. Then the installation was changed to Uralmash-15000, called so in honor of the planned well depth - 15 kilometers. The new drilling was designed specifically for Kola ultra-deep: drilling at such large depths required a serious refinement of equipment and materials. For example, only the weight of the drilling column at a 15-kilometer depth reached 200 tons. The installation itself could lift the cargo right up to 400 tons.

The drilling column consists of pipes interconnected. With its help, engineers are lowered to the bottom of the well tool for drilling, and it also provides his work. At the end of the column, a special 46-meter turbobones were set, driven by the flow of water from the surface. They allowed to rotate the crushing breed tool separately from the entire column.

Crowns, with the help of which the drilling column was bought in granite, cause associations with futuristic parts from the robot - several rotating spiked discs connected to a turbine from above. One such crown was enough for only four hours of operation - it approximately corresponds to the passage of 7-10 meters, after which the entire drilling column needs to be raised, disassemble and then omitted. Permanent descents and lifts by themselves took up to 8 hours.

Even the pipes for the column in Kola ultragool had to be used unusual. At the depth, the temperature and pressure are gradually growing, and, as engineers tell, at temperatures above 150-160 degrees, steel pipes softened and keeps many-torrent loads - because of this, the likelihood of hazardous deformations and column cliff increases. Therefore, developers have chosen lighter and heat-resistant aluminum alloys. Each pipe had a length of about 33 meters and a diameter of about 20 centimeters - a little already the well itself.

However, even specially designed materials have not kept drilling conditions. After the first seven-leather segment for further drilling to 12,000 meters, almost ten years and more than 50 kilometers of pipes took place. Engineers faced the fact that below the seven kilometers of rocks became less dense and fascinated - viscous for the bora. In addition, the stem of the well itself distorted the form and became elliptical. As a result, the column broke several times, and, without having to raise it back, the engineers were forced to concrete a branch of the well and go through the trunk again, losing years of work.

One of these major accidents forced Burosikov in 1984 to concrete a branch of the well, reached a depth of 12,066 meters. Drilling had to start anew with a 7-kilometer mark. This was preceded by a pause in working with a well - at that moment the existence of SG-3 was declassified, and the International Geological Congress of GeoExpo took place in Moscow, whose delegates visited the object.

As the eyewitnesses of the accident tell, after the resumption of work, the column has drilled a well for nine meters down. After four hours of drilling, workers prepared to raise the column back, but she didn't go. " The drillings decided that the pipe somewhere "stuck" to the walls of the well, and increased the power to rise. The load has decreased dramatically. Gradually, sacrificing the column on 33-meter candles, workers got to the next segment ending the uneven lower edge: Turbobur and another five kilometers of pipes remained in the well, they could not raise them.

To re-reach the 12-kilometer marker, the drillings succeeded only by 1990, then the dive record was installed - 12,262 meters. Then a new accident occurred, and since 1994, work on the well was stopped.

Scientific mission ultragool

Seismic Test Pattern on SG-3

"Kola Super Aglube" Ministry of Geology of the USSR, Publishing House "Subraz", 1984

The well was investigated by a whole set of geological and geophysical methods, ranging from the collection of core (the column of rocks corresponding to the predetermined depths) and ending with radiation and seismological measurements. For example, Kern was taken using kerpollipns with special boots - they look like pipes with jazzed edges. In the center of these pipes 6-7 centimeter holes, where the breed falls.

But even with this, it would seem simple (except for the need to raise this core from multi-kilometer depths) by the methodology arose difficulties. Due to the drilling fluid, - of the one, which led to the drill, - Kern was drinking liquid and changed its properties. In addition, conditions in the depth and on the surface of the Earth differ greatly - the samples were crackdown from the pressure drop.

At various depths, the yield of Kern was very different. If on five kilometers from a 100-meter segment, it was possible to count on 30 centimeters of core, then with depths of over nine kilometers instead of a column breed geologists obtained a set of piles from a dense breed.

Micrograph of rocks raised from a depth of 8028 meters

"Kola Super Aglube" Ministry of Geology of the USSR, Publishing House "Subraz", 1984

Studies of the material raised from the well made several important conclusions. First, the structure of the earth's crust can not be simplified to the composition of several layers. This used to indicate seismological data - geophysics saw waves, which seemed reflected from the smooth border. Research on SG-3 has shown that such visibility may occur with the complex distribution of rocks.

This assumption was affected by the design of the well - scientists expected that the trunk will enter basalt rocks at the depth of seven kilometers, but they did not meet at a 12-kilometer mark. But instead of basalt, geologists have discovered breeds that have a large amount of cracks and low density, which is not entirely not expected from multi-kilometer depth. Moreover, in the cracks there were traces of groundwater - even the assumptions were expressed that they were formed by the direct reaction of oxygen and hydrogen in the thickness of the Earth.

Among scientific results were applied - so, in small depths, geologists found the horizon of copper-nickel ores suitable for mining. And at a depth of 9.5 kilometers, a layer of geochemical abnormal of gold was found - micrometer grains of native gold were present in the breed. The concentrations reached a gram per ton of rock. However, it is unlikely to mining from such a depth ever profitable. But the very existence and properties of the golden layer allowed to clarify the models of the evolution of minerals - petrogenesis.

Separately, you should talk about studies of temperature gradients and radiation. For this kind of experiments, intravenous devices are used, descended on wires-cable. A large problem was to ensure their synchronicity with ground equipment, as well as provide work at high depths. For example, difficulties arose so that cables at a length of 12 kilometers stretched for about 20 meters, which could strongly reduce the accuracy of the data. To avoid this, geophysics had to create new methods of marking distances.

Most serial devices were not designed to work in the harsh conditions of the lower boreholes. Therefore, for research at large depths, scientists used equipment designed specifically for Kola ultra-deep.

The most important result of geothermal studies - much higher temperature gradients than expected to see. Near the surface, the temperature growth rate was 11 degrees per kilometer, to the depth of two kilometers - 14 degrees per kilometer. In the range from 2.2 to 7.5 kilometers, the temperature grew up at a speed approaching 24 degrees per kilometer, although the existing models predicted the amount of one and a half times smaller. As a result, already on a five-kilometer depth, the instruments fixed the temperature of 70 degrees Celsius, and 220 degrees Celsius reached 12 kilometers.

Kola ultrawowing turned out to be unlike other wells - for example, when analyzing the heat dissipation of the breeds of the Ukrainian crystal shield and the Batolites of Sierra Nevada, geologists showed that the heat generation depth falls. In SG-3, it has grown on the contrary. Moreover, the measurements have shown that the main source of heat providing 45-55 percent of the heat flux is the decay of radioactive elements.

Despite the fact that the depth of the well seems to be colossal, it does not reach the third of the thickness of the earth's crust in the Baltic shield. Geologists estimate that the sole of the earth's crust in this area takes approximately 40 kilometers under the ground. Therefore, even if SG-3 achieved a planned 15-kilometer cut-off, we would not get to the mantle.

An ambitious task was set by American scientists, developing the Mochol project. Geologists planned to achieve the border of Mochorovichi - an underground region, where there is a sharp change of the speed of propagation of sound waves. It is believed that it is associated with the border between the bark and the mantle. It is worth noting that the drillings were chosen as a place for the bottom of the ocean near the island of Guadalupe - the distance to the border was only a few kilometers. However, the depth of the ocean itself reached a 3.5 kilometer here, which significantly complicated drilling work. The first tests in the 1960s allowed geologists to drill wells only 183 meters.

Recently, it became known about the plans to resurrect the draft of deep ocean drilling with the help of research drilling vessel Joides Resolution. As a new goal, geologists chose a point in the Indian Ocean, not far from Africa. The depth of the border of Mochorovichi is only about 2.5 kilometers. In December 2015 - January 2016, geologists managed to drill a well depth of 789 meters - the fifth largest in the world from underwater wells. But this value is only half of the required at the first stage. However, the team plans to return and complete the started.

***

0.2 percent of the length of the path to the center of the Earth is not such an impressive value compared to the scale of space travel. However, it should be borne in mind that the border of the solar system does not pass according to the orbit of Neptune (or even a bust of the koyper). The gravity of the Sun prevails over the stellar until the distance in two light years from the shining. So, if you carefully calculate everything, it turns out that the "Voyager-2" flew only by the tenth share of the path length to the outskirts of our system.

Therefore, you should not be upset by how bad we know the "insides" of our own planet. Geologists have its own telescopes - seismic research - and their ambitious plans for the conquest of subsoil. And if astronomers have already managed to touch the solid part of the heavenly bodies in the solar system, then geologists have all the most interesting in front.

Vladimir Korolev

Do you know that people have solved the secrets of the planet for centuries? They tried to find answers under their feet. Travelask will tell about the largest wells in the world.

What the story says

To the bowels of the earth tried to go down many times. Some of the first were the Chinese. In the XIII century, they cut down a well depth 1200 meters.

In 1930, this record broke Europeans: they drizzled the earth's surface to the depth of three kilometers.

It took time, and this figure is all. So, in the late 1950s, the well has already reached 7 kilometers.

The deepest well in the world

In fact, most wells are made during mining. Today, the record for the well Thawing field Z-42. Built it for a very short time: just over 70 days. It belongs to the Sakhalin-1 project and is petroleum.

Its depth is 12,700 meters. You just imagine the highest mountain on Earth - Everest. He goes to heaven by almost 9 kilometers. And the deepest Wpadina is Mariana. It is about 11 kilometers. That is, the well Z-42 exceeded all the indicators of the mother-nature.

Well in the Murmansk region

But we want to tell in more detail about one special well. It is located in the Murmansk region about 10 kilometers from the city of Polarmar. It is called Kola ultra-dust well. Its depth is 12,62 meters. It is interesting for the fact that it was originally created not for the mining, but for the study of the lithosphere.

The diameter of the well at the surface of the Earth is 92 centimeters, and the diameter of the lower part is 21.5 centimeters.

The temperature during drilling at a depth of 5 kilometers was 70 degrees, at a depth of 7 kilometers - 120 degrees, and at a depth of 12 kilometers - 220 degrees.

The Kola ultra-deep well was laid in 1970 to the 100th anniversary of the birth of Vladimir Lenin. The main goal was to study volcanic rocks that are rarely dried upon mining. There were more than 15 research laboratories.

Activated in 1990, as many accidents happened here: drilling columns were often broken.

Today the object is abandoned, and the well itself is mothballed and begins to collapse.

Naturally, all the equipment was dismantled, and the building that is not used for a long time, slowly turns into ruins.

To resume work, a considerable amount is necessary - about 100 million rubles, so if the well will open somewhere, no one knows.

Research results

Scientists believed that at a certain depth, they would detect a clearly pronounced border between gratings and basalts. But, alas, all the works did not give a clear understanding of the nature of the earthly mantle. And then the researchers said at all that the place to start work was not the most successful.

Road to hell

This is so referring to the Kola well. Moreover, there are still many rumors related to the other world. So, there are bikes that at a depth of 12 kilometers, the instruments of scientists recorded screams and moans emanating from the bowels of the earth.

American television about this legend even said officially: in 1989, the TRINITY Broadcasting Network television company told this story with their audience. Well, then more: in the boulevard newspapers of that time it was also possible to find interesting stories. For example, that scientists heard screams and moans, but did not stop the study. And each kilometer imprinted misfortune in the country. So, when the drillers reached 13 kilometers, the USSR broke up. And at a depth of 14.5 kilometers, they generally found emptiness. Invited by this unexpected discovery, researchers have lowered a microphone there, capable of working with extremely high temperatures, and other sensors. The temperature inside reached 1 100 degrees - well, the real adware flame. And they heard human screams.

In fact, the acoustic methods of research of wells are recorded not actually sound and not on the microphone. They make an entry to seismic receivers of the wave pattern of reflected elastic oscillations excited by a radiator with a frequency of 10 - 20 kHz and 20 kHz - 2 MHz. Well, about the depth, we already wrote: no one reached the mark of 13 kilometers.

However, one of the authors of the project D.M. Guberman later told: "When I ask me about this mysterious story, I do not know what to answer. On the one hand, the stories about the "Demon" - a nonsense of a dog. On the other hand, like an honest scientist, I can not say that I know what exactly we happened. Really fixed a very strange noise, then there was an explosion ... After a few days, nothing like that at the same depth was found..

Perhaps, on such a mysterious note, we will finish the narration. Think yourself, decide for yourself, is it true of the road to hell.