Scientific drilling

Like probes sent into outer space, scientific drilling is a technology used to obtain samples from places that people cannot reach.

Gold miners in South Africa regularly go deeper than 3,400 m, but no human has ever descended to greater depths than this below the Earth's solid surface.

Teamwork between scientists, engineers, and administrators is often required for success in planning and in carrying out a drilling project, analyzing the samples, and interpreting and publishing the results in scientific journals.

The Integrated Ocean Drilling Program has a broad set of research objectives, which can be divided into three principal themes: ICDP focuses on scientific drilling to address the following questions about the history, chemistry, and physics of Earth and the biosphere: The Kola Superdeep Borehole on the Kola peninsula of Russia reached 12,262 metres (40,230 ft) and is the deepest penetration of the Earth's solid surface.

The German Continental Deep Drilling Program at 9.1 kilometres (5.7 mi) has shown the earth crust to be mostly porous.