Top 10 amazing holes in the Earth

[ConcernedCanuk]

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Top 10 amazing holes in the Earth



In 1971, geologists discovered a massive underground deposit of natural gas on this site. Whilst excavating the hole to tap the gas, thedrilling rig collapsed leaving a massive hole. To prevent poisonous gasses from escaping, the hole was allowed to burn. It continues to burn to this day and has done so without ceasing.(Source: CRIENGLISH.com/china.org.cn)


More here >> http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-03/05/content_10951495.htm

[Javaman]

1. huh, and my first thought was; two of them will be bush* and chaney.

:rofl:

[ConcernedCanuk]

3. Read the OP - it says "AMAZING" holes, not assholes . . .

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:silly:

[Javaman]

15. Very true. :) nt

[Maine-ah]

21. I was thinking Octomom

:yoiks:

[BobRossi]

2. Think it gives off any Greenhouse gases? nt

[Posteritatis]

4. A hundred-meter wide perpetual fire? No, of course not. (nt)

[sinkingfeeling]

5. Most of them man-made.

[ConcernedCanuk]

6. this one isn't

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The Great Blue Hole is an underwater sinkhole off the coast of Belize. The hole is 1,000 feet across and 400 feet deep. It was formed as a limestone cave during the last iceage.(Source: CRIENGLISH.com/china.org.cn)

[derby378]

7. Such a waste...

Certainly there's a way to cap off that hole and put the gases to more productive use?

[Posteritatis]

8. Capping even a small gas well fire is non-trivial to say the least (nt)

[tangent90]

14. It could certainly be done but then what the heck do you do with the gas?

It isn't plentiful enough to justify a several hundred long pipeline to someplace where they could use it. (plus it's likely to be contaminated with other like sulphur dioxide & other stuff that would have to be separated out)

[derby378]

17. Duly noted (n/t)

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

19. There's also the question...

of whether or not burning the gases ameliorates greenhouse potential.

IIRC, CO₂ is much less IR active than CH₄

[tangent90]

20. Yes, that's right...CO2 is pretty close to inert esp. compared with methane.

...

[Xenotime]

9. Very sad.

[cobalt1999]

10. How could the Kola Superdeep Hole not make the list?

Granted it's not as visually stunning as that sewage induced sinkhole in Guatemala.

The Kola Superdeep Borehole was the result of a scientific drilling project of the former USSR. The project attempted to drill as deep as possible into the Earth's crust. Drilling began on May 24, 1970 on the Kola Peninsula, using an "Uralmash-4E" and later an "Uralmash-15000" drilling rig. A number of boreholes were drilled by branching from a central hole. The deepest, SG-3, was completed in 1989, creating a hole 12,261 m (about 40,226 ft or 7.62 mi) deep,<1> which is still the deepest hole ever drilled.

[ConcernedCanuk]

12. oops

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[ConcernedCanuk]

13. That IS an interesting omission - 7 Miles deep! - wow - and HOT down there . . .

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The Russian researchers were also surprised at how quickly the temperatures rose as the borehole deepened, which is the factor that ultimately halted the project's progress.

Despite the scientists' efforts to combat the heat by refrigerating the drilling mud before pumping it down, at twelve kilometers the drill began to approach its maximum heat tolerance.



At that depth researchers had estimated that they would encounter rocks at 100°C (212°F), but the actual temperature was about 180°C (356°F)– much higher than anticipated.

At that level of heat and pressure, the rocks began to act more like a plastic than a solid, and the hole had a tendency to flow closed whenever the drill bit was pulled out for replacement.

7 mile deep hole in Russia

[Elidor]

22. They also left out Sotano de las Golondrinas

[ConcernedCanuk]

23. Wow - people jump into that thing for FUN!

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Took a bit of googling, but in English - it's called the "Cave of Swallows"




In the rainforests of central Mexico there is a tremendous pit of a cave, over 1000 feet deep. The cave is conical, wider at the bottom than at the top -- 160' x 205' at the top, opening up to a 440' x 995' chamber at the bottom. The surface at the top is uneven, the distance to the bottom is 1094' from the low side, and 1220' from the high point. Because of the birds who live in the cave, it's known as the Cave of Swallows.

As deep as the Cave of Swallows is, it's only the 2nd deepest in Mexico, and the 11th deepest in the world. The cave is deep enough, however, for a spectacular sport: BASE Jumping.

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There is even a video at the link

http://rockhoppersdailygrind.blogspot.com/2008/02/cave-of-swallows.html

[Deep13]

11. Surprised meteor crater in AZ is not on the list. nt

[ConcernedCanuk]

16. Well just lets just add it into this thread then!

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Prevailing wisdom had the meteorite speeding at 45,000 miles (72,000 kilometers) an hour when it hit. But H. Jay Melosh, of the University of Arizona, and Gareth Collins, of Imperial College London, used mathematical models to show that the space rock was likely hurtling at a mere 25,000 miles (43,000 kilometers) an hour.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/03/0310_050310_meteorcrater.html

[BuyingThyme]

18. 11

[ColbertWatcher]

24. Sweet! Thank you for posting! k+r, n/t