(Phys.org) —A team of Chinese researchers along with representatives from the US and Japan have found that ground fractures along fault lines due to earthquakes appear to heal faster than previously thought. In their paper ...
A UK-Canadian team of scientists has discovered ancient pockets of water, which have been isolated deep underground for billions of years and contain abundant chemicals known to support life.
Earth Sciences
May 15, 2013
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Experts in quantum cold-atom sensors are delving deep underground in a new project aimed at harnessing quantum gravity sensing technology in harsh underground borehole environments.
Quantum Physics
Aug 10, 2020
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86
A device which simulates borehole ballooning, a detrimental side effect of deep-water drilling operations, is expected to ensure safe and efficient operations. If not prevented, borehole ballooning can lead to irreversible ...
Earth Sciences
Apr 28, 2020
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20
A new study led by Peter Malin and Marco Bohnhoff of the GFZ German Research Center for Geosciences reports on the observation of foreshocks that, if analyzed accordingly and in real-time, may possibly increase the early ...
Earth Sciences
Nov 1, 2018
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185
One of the first visitors to Jupiter's icy moon of Europa could be a tiny submarine barely larger than two soda cans. The small craft might help strike the right balance between cost and capability for a robotic mission to ...
Space Exploration
Jun 11, 2013
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(Phys.org) —Last July, something unprecedented in the 34-year satellite record happened: 98 percent of the Greenland Ice Sheet's surface melted, compared to roughly 50 percent during an average summer. Snow that usually ...
Earth Sciences
May 21, 2013
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(Phys.org)—When researcher Alberto Behar from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., joined an international Antarctic expedition last month on a trek to investigate a subglacial lake, he brought with him ...
Earth Sciences
Mar 1, 2013
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(Phys.org)—This month is a turning point for ventures through recent years involving scientists trying to learn more about the buried lakes of the Antarctica. A team of scientists have been able to bore down into Lake Whillans, ...
(Phys.org)—Researchers with Russia's Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute have announced that they have successfully retrieved a clean ice core sample from Lake Vostok in Antarctica. The sample, taken from a bore hole ...
A borehole is the generalized term for any narrow shaft bored in the ground, either vertically or horizontally. A borehole may be constructed for many different purposes, including the extraction of water or other liquid (such as petroleum) or gases (such as natural gas), as part of a geotechnical investigation, environmental site assessment, mineral exploration, temperature measurement or as a pilot hole for installing piers or underground utilities.
Engineers and environmental consultants use the term to collectively describe all of the various types of holes drilled as part of a geotechnical investigation or environmental site assessment (a so-called Phase II ESA). This includes holes advanced to collect soil samples, water samples or rock cores, to advance in situ sampling equipment, or to install monitoring wells or piezometers. Samples collected from boreholes are often tested in a laboratory to determine their physical properties, or to assess levels of various chemical constituents or contaminants.
Typically, a borehole used as a water well is completed by installing a vertical pipe (casing) and well screen to keep the borehole from caving. This also helps prevent surface contaminants from entering the borehole and protects any installed pump from drawing in sand and sediment. Oil and natural gas wells are completed in a similar, albeit usually more complex, manner.
The world’s deepest borehole is the Odoptu OP-11 well on Sakhalin which reached a measured total depth of 12,345 m (40,502 ft) and a horizontal displacement of 11,475 m (37,648 ft). Exxon Neftegas Limited completed the well in 60 days.
As detailed in proxy (climate), borehole temperature measurements at a series of different depths can be effectively "inverted" (a mathematical formula to solve a matrix equation) to help estimate historic surface temperatures.
This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA
