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Ocean Floor Crust Wound to Be Explored

Posted by Zonk on from the journey-to-the-top-of-the-earth dept.

eldavojohn writes "A group of scientists are disembarking right now to study an open gash in the ocean floor where earth's mantle lays exposed without any crust covering it. The scientists describe this as the result of the mantle moving too quickly for the crust to keep up. Either that, or the mantle was never covered by the crust and just has always been like this. From the article, 'Regardless of how they formed, the exposed mantle provides scientists with a rare opportunity to study the Earth's rocky innards. Many attempts to drill deep into the planet barely get past the crust.'"

148 comments

  1. Gotta say it by Tablizer · · Score: 2

    The earth has it's own goatse area

    --
    Table-ized A.I.
    1. Re:Gotta say it by c6gunner · · Score: 2, Funny

      and, ofcourse, a bunch of nerds are gonna go stare at it.

  2. ohhh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Nothing like a nice, wet, open gash down below to explore!

    I wonder what they'll find? Might be too deep for the little man in the boat.

    1. Re:ohhh by Viceroy+Potatohead · · Score: 2, Funny

      I wonder why it smells like fish?

    2. Re:ohhh by sheepweevil · · Score: 1

      Its only a crust wound!

    3. Re:ohhh by yobjob · · Score: 1

      scientists have been trying to drill in to these for years.

      --
      Czech language for absolute beginners
  3. Wake me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Wake me when they get to the creamy nougat center.

    1. Re:Wake me by mrbluze · · Score: 1

      Don't they know that if you pick at it, it will never get better?

      --
      Do it yourself, because no one else will do it yourself. [beta blockade 10-17 Feb]
  4. Why hasn't a volcano formed there? by Apple+Acolyte · · Score: 1

    One would have thought a volcano would form there, instead of it just staying in that exposed state.

    --
    Part of the hardcore faithful who believed in Apple long before it was cool again to do so
    1. Re:Why hasn't a volcano formed there? by dwarmstr · · Score: 4, Informative

      The mantle is a solid, albeit warm and plastic, material. It's solid because of the immense pressure the material is under. Brought up via plate tectonics, the material can melt as the pressure is released.

    2. Re:Why hasn't a volcano formed there? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      yay for adiabatic decompression!!

    3. Re:Why hasn't a volcano formed there? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So, do you think the water pressure at this location is keeping it solid, in lieu of a few km of crust? The article says it's about 3km deep.

    4. Re:Why hasn't a volcano formed there? by dwarmstr · · Score: 2, Funny

      I think it means science by press release is usually poor.

  5. disembark? by mr_zorg · · Score: 3, Informative

    They are embarking, not disembarking...

    1. Re:disembark? by moonbender · · Score: 3, Funny

      Inflammable means flammable? What a country!

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      Switch back to Slashdot's D1 system.
    2. Re:disembark? by Tablizer · · Score: 2, Funny

      They are embarking, not disembarking...

      So we're letting dogs sniff our crack, eh?

      --
      Table-ized A.I.
    3. Re:disembark? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      While inflamable and flamable have the same meaning, disembark and embark mean different things.

    4. Re:disembark? by The_Wilschon · · Score: 1, Informative

      They are disembarking from their port of origin, and embarking on a mission to study the ocean floor gash. The summary used the word correctly. s/disembarking/embarking/ without changing anything else in the summary would result in something that didn't make sense.

      --
      SIGSEGV caught, terminating

      wait... not that kind of sig.
    5. Re:disembark? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Inflammable and flammable have the same meaning. Inflamable and flamable have completely opposite meanings. For example, this post is inflamable, while yours is extremely flamable.

    6. Re:disembark? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      To disembark means to go ashore, you can't "disembark from [a port]".

    7. Re:disembark? by CarpetShark · · Score: 1

      Either that, or they've arrived, and they're going for an EVA. The post is just ambiguous.

    8. Re:disembark? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      To embark is to get on a ship, generally to go somewhere. To debark is to get off, usually after arrival. Disembark would seem to be better used to describe those who get on a ship but then get off before it sails. I know that this is not the actual usage of the word, nor is it likely to ever be, but I still dream...

    9. Re:disembark? by David+Chappell · · Score: 1

      >They are disembarking from their port of origin, and embarking on a mission to study the ocean floor gash.

      The first part of this sentence would make sense only if disembark meant to set out on a journey. It actually means to get off a barque which is a type of ship. It is frequently used loosely to mean to get off any ship or even any large conveyance. But it never means to set out on a journey.

      The second part of the sentence is probably correct since they will most certainly have to get on a ship in order to visit the ocean floor.

    10. Re:disembark? by JoGlo · · Score: 1

      But inflatable and flatulence have DIFFERENT meanings!

      --
      Will those of you who think that you know what you are doing, get out of the way of those of us who know what we are doi
    11. Re:disembark? by Surt · · Score: 1

      http://209.161.33.50/dictionary/disembarking
      (merriam webster online):

      disembark
      One entry found.

      disembark

      Main Entry:
              disembark Listen to the pronunciation of disembark
      Pronunciation:
              \dis-m-bärk\
      Function:
              verb
      Etymology:
              Middle French desembarquer, from des- dis- + embarquer to embark
      Date:
              1582

      transitive verb : to remove to shore from a ship intransitive verb 1 : to go ashore out of a ship 2 : to get out of a vehicle or craft

      http://209.161.33.50/dictionary/embark
      embark
      One entry found.

      embark

      Main Entry:
              embark Listen to the pronunciation of embark
      Pronunciation:
              \im-bärk\
      Function:
              verb
      Etymology:
              Middle French embarquer, from Old Occitan embarcar, from em- (from Latin in-) + barca bark
      Date:
              1533

      intransitive verb 1 : to go on board a vehicle for transportation 2 : to make a start transitive verb 1 : to cause to go on board (as a boat or airplane) 2 : to engage, enlist, or invest in an enterprise
      -- embarkation Listen to the pronunciation of embarkation \em-bär-k-shn, -br-\ noun
      -- embarkment Listen to the pronunciation of embarkment \im-bärk-mnt\ noun

      Please provide a dictionary reference for any further discussion of the meaning of embark vs disembark.
      The slash summary is wrong.

      --
      "Who is the Journal of Quantum Physics going to believe?" --Stephen Hawking
    12. Re:disembark? by The_Wilschon · · Score: 1
      Well, you're right that I'm wrong, but you're not right completely.

      The first part of this sentence would make sense only if disembark meant to set out on a journey.
      "They are disembarking from their port of origin." -> "They are setting out on a journey from their port of origin." Ok, that would work. But that isn't the false meaning of disembark I really had in mind. I was thinking more like (first sentence) -> "They are leaving their port of origin." This also works.

      The second part of the sentence is probably correct since they will most certainly have to get on a ship in order to visit the ocean floor.
      Even if they were not getting on a ship, "embark" means, among other things, "To set out on a venture; commence". "They are setting out on a mission to study the ocean floor gash." I'm sure the word embark came from getting on a barque, but words do take on new meanings over the years, and embark certainly has.

      But, the main point is that I had made up a false meaning for disembark. And you are right about that. I was taking embark to point at the future, and disembark to point at the past, like the difference between go and come. This works for embark, but not so much for disembark.
      --
      SIGSEGV caught, terminating

      wait... not that kind of sig.
    13. Re:disembark? by The_Wilschon · · Score: 1

      Yes, the summary is wrong, and I was wrong. However, it is still true that s/disembark/embark/ produces meaninglessness.

      --
      SIGSEGV caught, terminating

      wait... not that kind of sig.
    14. Re:disembark? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      There is an inflated boat here.
      The magic boat contains:
          A tan label.

      >get tan label
      Taken.

      >read label
                      !!!! FROBOZZ MAGIC BOAT COMPANY !!!!

      Hello, sailor!

      Instructions for use:

            To get into the boat, say 'BOARD'
            To leave the boat, say 'DISEMBARK'
            To get into a body of water, say 'LAUNCH'
            To get to shore, say 'LAND'

      Warranty:

            This boat is guaranteed against all defects in parts and
      workmanship for a period of 76 milliseconds from date of purchase
      or until first used, whichever comes first.

      Warning: This boat is made of plastic.

      Good luck!

  6. Disembarking? by dmbrun · · Score: 0, Redundant

    I think you'll find its embarking right now instead of disembarking.

  7. Disembarking? by Makenai · · Score: 0, Redundant

    If they're set to leave next week, wouldn't they in fact be embarking on this voyage rather than disembarking (as in from their research vessel)?

  8. Thin Crust by Original+Replica · · Score: 2

    Imagine if this had formed on land, say in LA...

    --
    We are all just people.
    1. Re:Thin Crust by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      You say that as if it would've been a bad thing.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    2. Re:Thin Crust by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      happy thoughts.

    3. Re:Thin Crust by dwater · · Score: 1

      I'd vote for DC.

      --
      Max.
    4. Re:Thin Crust by Hoi+Polloi · · Score: 1

      If you want thin crust you really have to go to Boston's North End. I recommend thin crust with artichoke hearts and proscuitto.

      --
      It is by the juice of the coffee bean that thoughts acquire speed, the teeth acquire stains. The stains become a warning
    5. Re:Thin Crust by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      Imagine if this had formed on land, say in LA...

      Cuz I'm praying for rain
      And I'm praying for tidal waves
      I wanna see the ground give way.
      I wanna watch it all go down.
      Mom please flush it all away.
      I wanna see it go right in and down.
      I wanna watch it go right in.
      Watch you flush it all away.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  9. Mid atlantic ridge? by ruiner13 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Hasn't the mid-atlantic ridge always been there? How is this a "rare opportunity"? I don't think it will be going anywhere anytime soon.

    --

    today is spelling optional day.

    1. Re:Mid atlantic ridge? by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      Hasn't the mid-atlantic ridge always been there? How is this a "rare opportunity"? I don't think it will be going anywhere anytime soon.

      In B sci-fi, the portal *always* starts to close at an inopportune time. Thus, we gotta rush.

      --
      Table-ized A.I.
    2. Re:Mid atlantic ridge? by Stormx2 · · Score: 2, Insightful
      The wording is pretty terrible:

      'Regardless of how they formed, the exposed mantle provides scientists with a rare opportunity to study the Earth's rocky innards. Many attempts to drill deep into the planet barely get past the crust.'


      Barely get past the crust? So they do get past the crust? Then how is exploring this bit of mantle different from exploring the parts we've drilled to?
    3. Re:Mid atlantic ridge? by the_brobdingnagian · · Score: 1

      I think they mean "rare" as in there are not many PLACES you can find this. As opposed to there are not many TIMES you can find this.

    4. Re:Mid atlantic ridge? by timothyf · · Score: 1

      Normally, even ocean ridges are covered by a thin layer of crust. What does come up is usually magma, which is not mantle material. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oceanic_ridge

    5. Re:Mid atlantic ridge? by Mr2cents · · Score: 5, Informative

      A few months ago I was wondering how deep mankind has drilled, and found some interesting stuff. Basically, you should read "barely" as "didn't".

      As always, when you think something's easy (make_small_hole(); while(1) { make_hole_deeper(); } ), it's just because your ignorance doesn't let you appreciate the problems, like the extreme temperature and pressure. For example, I didn't realize that the pressure compresses the rocks and when you drill a hole that deep, the rocks around it want to expand, causing engineering nightmares.

      And while measuring the straightness of a hole seems quite doable (or put otherwise, I accept the assumption that there exists technology to do that), I still wonder how they can adjust the drilling direction.

      Fascinating!

      --
      "It's too bad that stupidity isn't painful." - Anton LaVey
    6. Re:Mid atlantic ridge? by Xiph1980 · · Score: 1

      The shrinkage of the hole isn't the only problem and could partly be overcome by taking a larger drillhead than the drillshaft (or tube or whatever connection between the higher part and the drillhead).
      If you take a really long straw and place it vertically in your beverage, you can only lift the water so much before the weight of the water becomes higher than you could lift by sucking your mouth vacuum.
      This same effect happens with the rock deposit you drill up. You need to remove it to somewhere, and the deeper the hole is, the more weight you'll have to lift out of the drillhole.
      Another thing is the weight of the drillhead and connection. If you lift a long enough cable or wire high enough it'll collapse under it's own weight. You'll have that same risk with drilling very long holes.
      Also, the drillhead won't last forever. Certainly not under those rock hardnesses at several km's deep. And then there's the stability of the shaft. Chances are it wants to collapse. Many problems, many issues. it's not as easy as just drilling down :)

      --
      Manuals are your last resort only
    7. Re:Mid atlantic ridge? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      its easy to drill an angled hole, Oil drillers do it regularly. I was involved in working on a semi-sub that had to drill a hole where the lower parts were drilled at 60 degrees from the vertical...

    8. Re:Mid atlantic ridge? by WetCat · · Score: 1

      Why not make a mine instead of a drillhole? Sure, it'll be harder first time to get mined rock, but instead you shouldn't bother about drillheads stuck?

  10. Analogy by Renfield+Spiffioso · · Score: 5, Informative

    MacLeod likens this process to stretching a person's skin until it ruptures, exposing the flesh underneath. That's the most horrifying scientific analogy I've ever heard.
    1. Re:Analogy by MightyYar · · Score: 4, Funny

      You don't want to hear his analogy for a volcano - it involves a donkey and a chambermaid.

      --
      W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
    2. Re:Analogy by Dunbal · · Score: 1

      MacLeod likens this process to stretching a person's skin until it ruptures, exposing the flesh underneath.
      That's the most horrifying scientific analogy I've ever heard.

            Not to mention the stunning implications - that the Earth is suffering from pemphigus!

      --
      Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
    3. Re:Analogy by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      Wait 'til he explains volcanos as earth's pimples. And when they get clogged up and are about to rupture, they resemble...

      Ok, I'll go puke now.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    4. Re:Analogy by fbjon · · Score: 1

      You don't want to hear his analogy for a volcano - it involves a donkey and a chambermaid.
      ...and a bathtub.
      --
      True confidence comes not from realising you are as good as your peers, but that your peers are as bad as you are.
    5. Re:Analogy by noidentity · · Score: 1

      "MacLeod likens this process to stretching a person's skin until it ruptures, exposing the flesh underneath. That's the most horrifying scientific analogy I've ever heard."

      He must have recently seen goatse for the first time and still suffering after-effects.

    6. Re:Analogy by Nutria · · Score: 1
      That's the most horrifying scientific analogy I've ever heard.

      But quite accurate.

      When I broke my hand, it swelled up so quickly that it made a roughly half-inch long tear in the skin.

      Needless to say, once the pain meds kicked in, I was fascinated.

      --
      "I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
    7. Re:Analogy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wait 'til he explains volcanos as earth's pimples. And when they get clogged up and are about to rupture, they resemble...

      John Belushi?

    8. Re:Analogy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ...walking into a bar

      I seriously hope we don't get an on-topic goatcx posting in the name of 'science'. Some things are best left unexplored.

    9. Re:Analogy by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      You are disgusting!

      Care to form a stand up comedy team?

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  11. Anti-Crust by RancidMilk · · Score: 4, Funny

    If you tamper with the anti-crust, you will get burned.

    1. Re:Anti-Crust by Hoi+Polloi · · Score: 1

      Sorry but I always eat the crust.

      --
      It is by the juice of the coffee bean that thoughts acquire speed, the teeth acquire stains. The stains become a warning
  12. Second-hand mandatory joke by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

    Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn

    1. Re:Second-hand mandatory joke by NoseBag · · Score: 1

      Ia! Ia! AlGore! AlGore!

      --
      Cloned foods give the statement "We had that last week!" a whole new meaning.
  13. don't get too close by blakmac · · Score: 0

    the laaavaaa boat......

    --
    http://wstewart.php0h.com - the sugarbuzz project blog
  14. I want to by jjacksonRIAB · · Score: 0

    Stick my / in your gash and maybe your . too

    --
    Make a few bad jokes on /. and watch your karma become worthy of Hitler
  15. I prefer the Term by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I prefer to refer to it as the "Axe Wound"

  16. Please don't by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Please do not anthropomorphize our planet. He really hates that.

    1. Re:Please don't by jimmydevice · · Score: 1

      That's SHE.

    2. Re:Please don't by jcr · · Score: 4, Funny

      Thats it, not "He" or "She", you insensitive sexist clod!

      -jcr

      --
      The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
    3. Re:Please don't by jimmydevice · · Score: 1

      I'd mod you up, but my points expired today. ( also posted )

    4. Re:Please don't by Surt · · Score: 1

      Our best evidence actually supports the earth is a she argument (e.g. probably colonized by mars microbes, surely a receptive act if ever there was one).

      --
      "Who is the Journal of Quantum Physics going to believe?" --Stephen Hawking
  17. The Gate by j00r0m4nc3r · · Score: 1

    Better close that hole up before the legions of nasty aquatic underworld ghoulies come pouring out into the world

    1. Re:The Gate by pla · · Score: 1

      Better close that hole up before the legions of nasty aquatic underworld ghoulies come pouring out into the world

      Nonono, you have it all wrong - this will let scientists discover the LifeStream, so we can finally start building Mako reactors.

    2. Re:The Gate by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Rev 9:1 Then the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen to earth from the sky, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit. Rev 9:2 When he opened it, smoke poured out as though from a huge furnace, and the sunlight and air were darkened by the smoke. Rev 9:3 Then locusts came from the smoke and descended on the earth, and they were given power to sting like scorpions

  18. Chacun a son gout by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I say we brush the split crust with garlic butter so it develops to a tasty golden brown.

  19. Congratulations... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    It's global warming!

    1. Re:Congratulations... by elandqui · · Score: 1

      I think you may be right. Think about it. Exposed magma boils water above it, which in turn warms the water in that area, warming the ocean surface above that area, warming the air around there, and hence causing the planet to heat up slightly. This should also explain the general increase in the number of hurricanes in the Atlantic as well. I think the reason why the magma doesn't solidify is because there is a lot more magma than water. This is just a theory, but I think it makes sense. What does everyone else think?

  20. Re:Embarking by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    yeah and inflammable means flammable... what a country...

  21. Can't wait by Dunbal · · Score: 3, Funny

    Someone is going to use this as evidence of humans causing global warming in 5...4...3...2...

    --
    Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
    1. Re:Can't wait by jjacksonRIAB · · Score: 4, Funny

      Al Gore will not fall for your Jedi mind tricks.

      --
      Make a few bad jokes on /. and watch your karma become worthy of Hitler
    2. Re:Can't wait by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      Hey, we already do enough for global warming, I think at least a little bit can come from the planet itself!

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    3. Re:Can't wait by fuego451 · · Score: 1

      Well, there's always the chance cube.

    4. Re:Can't wait by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why was this marked as a troll when the very post before it was from one of those envirowackos blaiming global warming?

    5. Re:Can't wait by jimmydevice · · Score: 1

      or the time cube http://www.timecube.com/ Is this the genetic religosity thread, i'm lost in tequila and beer? Cop scanner: Thir'is is a large goat in the road. Cops removing equestrians from the roadway. Is a goat a equestrian?

    6. Re:Can't wait by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The wait is over. You just used the argument as evidence of humans not causing global warming, which is actually much more plausible consequence (perhaps 1/1000 chance).

      I think these are 2 different phenomena, AGW is real enough for me and has enough mechanisms even without ocean floor crust.
      Stay tuned to realclimate.org

    7. Re:Can't wait by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hush, we all know there is no global warming. Now please keep consuming. Thank you.

  22. We've made it through the crust? by Slippery+Pete · · Score: 4, Informative

    "Many attempts to drill deep into the planet barely get past the crust." I wasn't aware of any drilling that has past the crust. The deepest I knew about was the Kola Borehole which only reached 12,262 meters. I understand drilling the seafloor saves us time and depth but I wasn't away of anyone getting through the crust yet.

    1. Re:We've made it through the crust? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Moreover if you HAD drilled through the crust to get to the mantle, wouldn't you stop there because you had reached your goal? So what drilled hole WOULDN'T barely get through the crust?

  23. Global Warming? by friend.ac · · Score: 0, Troll

    C'mon.. How long before the tree-huggers and Al Gore find relates this to Global Warming and we're all doomed!

    1. Re:Global Warming? by friend.ac · · Score: 0

      hahaha, I don't think 30 is having a mid-life crisis.. I run the site! :-)

    2. Re:Global Warming? by vandan · · Score: 1

      Yuck. That's even worse. And it's also ironic that you feel the need to refer to people with an understanding of current environmental issues as 'tree-huggers' when trees are pretty much the only thing you and your users could hug without getting slapped.

    3. Re:Global Warming? by friend.ac · · Score: 0

      i actually agree with the most part of the environmental debate - especially when it comes to the US and China and the lack of acceptance and moral responsibility towards the issue. I also agree as well with the scientific studies that planets such as Mars and Pluto have also shown unusual warming over the past 10-20 years. But I'm not interested in a flame war - and perhaps should have enclosed my statement in [sarcasm][/sarcasm] tags.

  24. Why hasn't CRUST formed there? by StarKruzr · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I don't understand how [water (cooling agent) + magma (what the mantle is made of] != crust evaluates to 1.

    --

    +++ATH0
    1. Re:Why hasn't CRUST formed there? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      If i recall my school years correctly, the mantel is made of rock, not magma. In between the crust and mantle is the lithosphere (or whatever its called) that contains all the magma. I would assume that since crust hasent formed, there is no magma around there, which i would ask, why is that?

    2. Re:Why hasn't CRUST formed there? by Bellum+Aeternus · · Score: 4, Insightful
      You're right magma + coolant (water) = rock. The mantle is a section of the planet, comprised of different materials than the crust. This an opportunity to look at those materials without having to drill do far. Trust me, not many scientists was to be looking at 2000 degree molten rock up close.

      There's a lot of other cool things we can see while we're down there, like how the rock crystals formed under that kind of pressure and how fast they cooled. All kinds of cool things can be interpreted by the rocks crystalline structure.

      --
      - I voted for Nintendo and against Bush
    3. Re:Why hasn't CRUST formed there? by dwater · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      I think you'll find it evaluates to 'true'.

      I hate all this 0==false/otherwise==true crap. It makes for some really unreadable code. Is it really that much more effort to make a boolean var with a meaningful name? I expect a compiler would optimise it out easily...

      --
      Max.
    4. Re:Why hasn't CRUST formed there? by TapeCutter · · Score: 2, Funny

      "It makes for some really unreadable code. Is it really that much more effort to make a boolean var with a meaningful name?"

      #define _SARCASM (~0)
      #include "sarcasm.h"

      boolean it_is_called_code_for_a_reason = true;

      --
      And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
  25. Re:Disembarking? by Oktober+Sunset · · Score: 1

    maybe they plan on swimming all the way there and are jumping off the ship into the ocean right now.

    --
    What if Tetris was invented by Nazis?
  26. IGY - International Geophysical Year, 1957-ish... by Nefarious+Wheel · · Score: 3, Interesting
    ...and the beginning of the Space Age. There was an attempt to drill past the crust to the mantle in a spot where the transition came up fairly close to the Earth's surface, called Project Mohole http://www.nas.edu/history/mohole/. This referred to the Mohorovicic Discontinuity, or "Mohole". The IGY was an early attempt at an international cooperative effort in Earth studies.

    The importance of this effort was underlined by the fact that Walt Kelly's "Pogo" sent it up. Since the event was a "year" of 18 months, Pogo suggested naming the extra months after foods -- Octoberry, Novemberry etc.

    In a side note, the US response to Sputnik included a science payload named Nora-Alice 1, beacon transmitter for Discoverer satellite, which took it's name from a poem Pogo wrote in honour of the IGY. http://www.ece.uiuc.edu/about/history/reminiscence /space.html/ has a picture and a small quote down the column a bit.

    So as you can see, drilling a hole in the Earth past the crust to the mantle inspired some of the first orbital satellites. Remarkable! Oh, and then there was LAGEOS, of course, but I'll let you look that one up.

    --
    Do not mock my vision of impractical footwear
  27. Re:Disembarking? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's good news-- it means they don't have to go, because they're already back! :)

  28. "...LIES exposed..." by Kapiti+Kid · · Score: 1

    Hens lay eggs. They don't lay down.

  29. Nature of the beast by dino213b · · Score: 1

    Many books of antiquity have been bound in human skin. Science is not for the weak of heart.

    http://www.boston.com/news/local/rhode_island/arti cles/2006/01/07/some_of_nations_best_libraries_hav e_books_bound_in_human_skin/

  30. Last words heard from disembarked scientific team. by dwayrynen · · Score: 1

    "My God, it's full of lava!"

    --
    "How inappropriate to call this planet earth when it is quite clearly Ocean." - Arthur C. Clarke

  31. Tough scientists! by Stephen+Tennant · · Score: 2, Funny
    These guys are hardcore!

    I mean, the last time I was invited to inspect an open wound in someone's gash, I ran.

    --
    I spend most of my time in bed, darling.
  32. Obligatory "The Core" Reference by SeaDour · · Score: 1

    Col. Robert Iverson: People. Doctors Zimsky and Keyes? You guys are our resident geophysicists, so what do you make of this?
    Dr. Conrad Zimsky: The mantle is a chemical hodgepodge of, a, variety of elements...
    Dr. Ed 'Braz' Brazzelton: Say it with me: "I don't know."

    1. Re:Obligatory "The Core" Reference by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If only we had some Unobtanium...

  33. yes mother... by sponga · · Score: 1

    "stop picking at your wounds!!"

  34. Smaht Remahk by bmo · · Score: 1

    "MacLeod likens this process to stretching a persons skin until it ruptures, exposing the flesh underneath. You take the crust and you stretch it and you pull it and pull it until it breaks, he said."

    They found the goatse.cx guy.

    --
    BMO

  35. Project wont finish... by ZeroExistenZ · · Score: 3, Funny

    They'll just run away in fear like the commies did :P

    --
    I think we can keep recursing like this until someone returns 1
  36. Wait, what? by StarKruzr · · Score: 1

    How can rock THAT hot (rock closer to the core must necessarily be hotter than rock closer to the surface) NOT be magma? Pressure?

    --

    +++ATH0
    1. Re:Wait, what? by ElectricRook · · Score: 5, Informative

      Mantle rock is not magma. Mantle material is usually very hot because it is (A) very heavy, and (B) usually covered by a layer of insulating lighter crust material. The crust is 3-18 miles thick. Magma is usually crust material that got pushed down into hot mantle material and melted. The crustal material magma being lighter than mantle wants to rise above the mantle magma. So usually we have an intrusion of lighter crustal magma being forced through the mantle. So we've never seen mantle material exposed before. Some small samples of solid mantle material have been carried up by some of the cooler type volcanoes. This is how we get diamonds and peridots. Read about Kimberlite pipes.

      --
      - High Tech workers, please say NO to Union Carpenters, their Union sees fit to control our compensation.
    2. Re:Wait, what? by Kiffer · · Score: 1

      I've yet to RTFA yet but, I've one or too points to make...
      You're statment "Magma is usually crust material that got pushed down into hot mantle material and melted." is not entirely accurate.

      In subduction zones where crustal material gets pulled down in to the mantle the melting is very often that of the mantle between the subducted and the subducting crustal slabs. The subducted slab carries a lot of water and as it heats the water is released in to the mantle, this changes the melting temperature of the mantle material and melting can occur.

      In places like the Mid Ocean Ridges, where two plates are pulling apart the sudden drop in pressure over hard hot mantle allows it to partially melt, producing basalt.

      Which brings me on to the gash discussed here... I'm not sure how you could expose mantle material like that with out melting some of it like at the MOR. of course if it was very cool before the gash opened then it would be below the point where the loss in pressure would allow it to melt...

    3. Re:Wait, what? by KudyardRipling · · Score: 1

      What are we going to find in this exposed mantle? We should already know. Mantle material has been recovered in meteorite form http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4_Vesta/. Olivine, pyroxenes and other heavier metal silicate rocks albeit with differing isotope mixes.

      --
      Submission as evidence constitutes plaintiff and/or prosecutorial misconduct.
  37. "Abduction" by Robin Cook by meowsqueak · · Score: 1

    This reminds me of a book I read recently by Robin Cook called "Abduction" - about a civilisation of humans (who evolved independently from surface humans) who live under the sea - a place they call "InterTerra".

    http://www.amazon.com/Abduction-Robin-Cook/dp/0425 17736X

    Anyway, the plot is terribly contrived and the writing is bad, but it was strangely compelling and I just had to find out what happened at the end.

    So just be careful you don't go and piss off an advanced civilisation with your undersea drilling!

  38. Mother Earth by flyingfsck · · Score: 1

    A gash? Well, now really, can't they afford the old girl some privacy?

    --
    Excuse me, but please get off my Pennisetum Clandestinum, eh!
  39. Not just technical limits by EmbeddedJanitor · · Score: 2, Insightful
    If you read Robert Ballard's autobiography, or one of many other books on oceanography, you'll find that plate tectonics only started to become accepted as a credible theory in the 1960s, with many significant researchers still dismissing the theory in the early 1970s.

    To put that in context: people had visited the moon before plate tectonics was widely accepted.

    Since then there has been research, including drilling, but it is probably fair to say they mankind still only has a pretty fuzzy picture of what is going on. The limit is not just technical, but also political and funding limits etc. It is easy to get a big ego boost/career advancement from, or funding for some flashy work in space etc, but difficult to do so for digging a hole in the ground.

    --
    Engineering is the art of compromise.
  40. Bow Chika Bow Wow by Khaed · · Score: 1

    Insert porno music as we go down on Mother Earth and "inspect" and "explore" her gash.

  41. Noooooo.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    http://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-Inferno-Jon-Per twee/dp/B00004CON8

    We must visit the alternate dimension, watch their mantle spill over, causing calderas, then come back and stop the project!

  42. MOD PARENT DOWN. I WAS WRONG. by The_Wilschon · · Score: 1

    Dang it! Mod me down, I'm wrong!

    --
    SIGSEGV caught, terminating

    wait... not that kind of sig.
  43. Yuck by gwoodrow · · Score: 1

    Ewwww... crust wound...

  44. The Diamond Age by Web+Goddess · · Score: 1

    (Apologies to Neal Stephenson)

    Thanks for the pointer, ElectricRook. I read all about Kimberlite Pipes and now I'm excited by the prospect of "unearthing" a motherlode of diamonds on the sea floor! Perhaps these scientists have embarked, or disembarked, on that rare beast -- science with an immenent financial payoff.

    The Diamond Rush of 2010...

    1. Re:The Diamond Age by ElectricRook · · Score: 1
      There are apparently diamonds almost everywhere, or some people think. Here in Northern California, they are reported to be found near where gold was discovered in Placerville California (Actually Smith Flat). I found what appears to be a kimberlite pipe in Northern Oregon. This is kind of a unique area, where volcanic islands were partially subducted and merged with the Coast. I don't know if diamonds will be found there, I've read they only appear in any meaningful quantities in about 2% of Kimberlites. Even then, the number of diamonds is really low.


      If you are interested in searching for diamonds, join a local gem society. Ask the members about UV lights. They cost a few hundred, even for low power battery operated lamps, and there are some pretty crappy ones too. Be sure to wear eye protection, because UV light will trash your eyes. But most diamonds ( and a lot of other unique minerals ) fluoresce.

      --
      - High Tech workers, please say NO to Union Carpenters, their Union sees fit to control our compensation.
    2. Re:The Diamond Age by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      You can get UV LEDs these days. Just swap the white LEDs in a flashlight with a bunch of UV ones. I'd also put a violet LED in there just as a reminder (I think they're white ones with filters, but anyway.)

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    3. Re:The Diamond Age by khallow · · Score: 1

      I recall that small black diamonds were found in placer deposits in North Carolina. IIRC, supposedly the state of affairs then was that they didnt' even know if the diamonds were directly eroded from a kimberlite deposit or if they had subsequently been embeded in sedimentary rock and reeroded.

      Good luck with that kimberlite pipe (and perhaps others like it). I figure any serious diamond deposits would have been discovered by now due to the extreme amount of gold panning that has gone on. However, as I recall, there's only a few streams in that part of the country with any gold in it. So that wisdom might not apply.
    4. Re:The Diamond Age by ElectricRook · · Score: 1

      Yeah, but they don't have the proper band width. I did a bunch of work on this a year ago, and promptly forgot all about it.

      --
      - High Tech workers, please say NO to Union Carpenters, their Union sees fit to control our compensation.
    5. Re:The Diamond Age by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      So you need to use lamps? I would have thought this problem would be solvable with some kind of phosphors (albeit at a reduced level of efficiency - but then, that's how white LEDs work anyway.)

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    6. Re:The Diamond Age by ElectricRook · · Score: 1
      All the gold in California lies in "A bank in middle of Beverly Hills in somebody else's name".

      Oh wait back to the topic...

      Most of the gold in California lies in "The Motherlode" mining district below 5,000' elevation between Downeyville, and Yosemite. It occupies just about all the streams in that region. Plus there is a north-south seam between Auburn and Jackson where we find the really deep hard rock mines (several thousand feet deep) There they mine gold bearing milky quartz in granite (only one mine is operating today). The Nevada side of the Sierras has a lot in alluvial deposits. Most of the small towns in the Motherlode district had 10-20 thousand people during the gold rush. Now most of the same area is bed-room community to Sacramento (with all the hell of people discovering their house is built atop a collapsing gold mine).

      I have heard a theory that the gold was emitted by the mid oceanic ridge, and deposited on the sea floor. That sea floor was smashed onto the edge of California by accretion something like 250MYA (Million Years Ago). A lot if it was mixed into magma which intruded into the accreted crust as granite plumes, the gold being concentrated in quartz veins. The band being a portion of the sea floor that was not sub ducted, but instead acreted into the crust.

      About the diamonds, yes being very hard, they persist well and are concentrated in streams. But unlike gold which is 6-8 times denser than granite and basalt, diamonds look like quartz, and aren't heavy enough to seperate from basalt by weight.

      --
      - High Tech workers, please say NO to Union Carpenters, their Union sees fit to control our compensation.
    7. Re:The Diamond Age by khallow · · Score: 1

      I have heard a theory that the gold was emitted by the mid oceanic ridge, and deposited on the sea floor. That sea floor was smashed onto the edge of California by accretion something like 250MYA (Million Years Ago). A lot if it was mixed into magma which intruded into the accreted crust as granite plumes, the gold being concentrated in quartz veins. The band being a portion of the sea floor that was not sub ducted, but instead acreted into the crust.

      Assuming this is an accurate model, I'd bet that hydrothermal systems concentrated the gold on the sea floors. But there probably was some sort of concentrating process in those quartz veins. Quartz is one of the last things to solidify due to its low melting point. So it's likely to concentrate metals and other things with an even lower melting point. It could also be hydrothermal activity due to ground water. Several thousand feet down isn't very deep. It would have been exposed to water for a long time IMHO.
    8. Re:The Diamond Age by ElectricRook · · Score: 1

      The real solution is X-rays, but UV light is the poor mans way.

      --
      - High Tech workers, please say NO to Union Carpenters, their Union sees fit to control our compensation.
    9. Re:The Diamond Age by ElectricRook · · Score: 1

      It's apparently not a constant thing, but highly fluxuating, at one time 250MYA, it was a large quantity of gold, ocean floor measurements will tell what it is today. There is apparently a lot of mineral nodules on the abyssal planes.

      --
      - High Tech workers, please say NO to Union Carpenters, their Union sees fit to control our compensation.
    10. Re:The Diamond Age by khallow · · Score: 1

      Maybe it's nothing but 250 million years ago was the end of the Permian Era and the time of the Great Dying. Might have been some weird ocean floor chemistry from that time. But gold isn't very soluable in water until the temperature gets to around 300 degrees celsius (IIRC). Minute amounts of gold in the bedrock dissolve and deposit where the temperature drops to below the soluable temperature. So it's a matter of local conditions (ie, there has to be some gold in the bedrock before it can dissolve and redeposit) not global concentration in sea water.

  45. Re:Once again /. nails it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Hello, Ann Coulter. Welcome to Slashdot and have a nice day. I believe you meant to type in this or this.

  46. Now we turn green and hairy by Noonian · · Score: 2, Informative

    Now that we've penetrated the earth's crust, we just need to make sure we don't touch the ooze and turn green and hairy!

    Oh, come on, there've got to be some Doctor Who fans out there! ;-)

  47. PIE!! by EddyPearson · · Score: 1

    mmmmmmm Pie.

    --
    You feel sleepy. Close your eyes. The opinions stated above are yours. You cannot imagine why you ever felt otherwise.
  48. Discovered by the Black Knight... by mjeppsen · · Score: 1

    "It's only a crust wound."

    Matt Jeppsen
    FresHDV.com

  49. Re:IGY - International Geophysical Year, 1957-ish. by Hoi+Polloi · · Score: 1

    While my brother was in high school one of his classmates winged it during a class where they had to read their book reports. This guy made up a book called "The Moho Menace" where hostile creatures attack the surface after being released by drilling to the moho discontinuity.

    I only pray, for the sake of mankind, that it was fiction.

    --
    It is by the juice of the coffee bean that thoughts acquire speed, the teeth acquire stains. The stains become a warning
  50. I'm sure you don't remember.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...the original SF story on this topic.

    A 'Professor Challenger' short story by Conan Doyle (Yes, he of Holmes fame)

    Challenger drills through the crust and discovers that he has actually cut through the skin of an enormous creature, and is looking at the sub-cutaneous fat beneath. I'll leave you to find out what happens next - I don't think it's in print anymore, but perhaps Gutenburg will be your friend here?

  51. Atlantis by OHdog · · Score: 1

    For those people writing a pseudo-science book at this very minute I have a couple of questions. How did they move Atlantis to expose this section of mantle and where did it go? And who are they?

  52. expanding earth by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They don't understand what is going on because they cannot accept the fact that the earth is growing! Go to google video. Type in Neal Adams.

  53. Prolly pretty old by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    One would think it would be covered with whale shit by now..