(ZEROHEDGE) – Chinese scientists broke ground Tuesday on a planned 10,000-meter (32,808) foot hole into the Earth’s crust – the country’s deepest ever borehole according to Bloomberg, citing the Xinhua state-run news agency.
The shaft will penetrate over 10 continental strata, or layers of rock, and will reach the cretaceous system in the earth’s crust which dates back some 145 million years. The project will provide data on Earth’s internal structure, as well as prove up underground drilling technologies, according to China’s National Petroleum Corp., which is in charge of the 457-day project.
The effort could be used to identify mineral resources as well as help assess environmental risks such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
