International Scientific Research Team Drills Deepest Mantle Rock Sample Ever

TapTechNews August 13th news, an international scientific research team drilled a 1268-meter-long almost uninterrupted rock sample in the area from the mantle to the seabed in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, which is the deepest mantle rock sample ever drilled by humans.

This rock sample will help researchers better understand continental magma activities, crust formation, and the elemental cycling among the Earth's interior, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere.

Mantle

TapTechNews note: The Earth is roughly composed of the crust (solid outer shell), the mantle (thick inner layer that accounts for more than 80% of the Earth's volume), and the core. Scientists have so far only been able to access fragments of the mantle, but in some places, the mantle has a 'close contact' with the seabed.

One such area is the 'Lost City' - the Atlantis Massif near the volcanically active area of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Here, parts of the mantle continuously move upward and come into contact with seawater, resulting in many volcanoes in this area.

At the same time, as seawater penetrates deep into the mantle, it heats up and produces compounds such as methane. These compounds bubble through hydrothermal vents, providing 'fuel' for the growth of microorganisms and the like.

International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP)

The International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) is an international marine research cooperation program that uses ocean-going research platforms to recover data recorded in seabed sediments and rocks and monitor the subsea environment to explore the history and dynamics of the Earth.

A scientific research team composed of researchers from countries such as the UK, the US, China, and Japan, operating the ocean drilling ship 'JOIDES Resolution', drilled 1268 meters deep into the mantle.

Rosalind Coggon, a marine geologist at the University of Southampton in the UK, said that the achievement of this expedition is a 'fantastic milestone'.

He said: 'Ocean drilling provides the only way to obtain samples from the deep interior of the Earth, and these samples are the key to understanding the formation and evolution of our planet'.

The 10-year IODP project is coming to an end, and the US's main research ship 'JOIDES Resolution' is also about to be retired. Scientists are worried that there will be a long gap before more follow-up studies can be conducted.

The US National Science Foundation has announced that after fulfilling its obligations under the IODP, it can no longer afford the $72 million annual ship operating cost, and the program will be terminated.

Preliminary Findings

Scientists found that the content of pyroxene minerals in the new sample is much lower. This indicates that this part of the mantle has undergone significant melting processes in the past, depleting the pyroxene. The research team hopes to reconstru ct this process in the future to reveal the melting process of the mantle.

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