Travel to the Earth's center

Earth cutaway from core to exosphere. Partially to scale

Travelling to the Earth's center is a popular theme in science fiction. Some subterranean fiction involves traveling to the Earth's center and finding either a hollow Earth or Earth's molten core. Planetary scientist David J. Stevenson suggested sending a probe to the core as a thought experiment.[1][2] Humans have drilled over 12 kilometers (about 8 miles) in the Sakhalin-I project.[3] In terms of depth below the surface, the Kola Superdeep Borehole SG-3 retains the world record at 12,262 metres (40,230 ft) in 1989 and still is the deepest artificial point on Earth.[4]

  1. ^ Stevenson, David (15 May 2003). "Planetary science: Mission to Earth's core – a modest proposal". Nature. 423 (6937): 239–240. Bibcode:2003Natur.423..239S. doi:10.1038/423239a. PMID 12748631. S2CID 4430744.
  2. ^ Noble, Ivan (14 May 2003). "Plumbing the Earth's depths". BBC News. Retrieved 23 February 2008.
  3. ^ Eagleson, Mary (1994). Concise Encyclopedia Chemistry. Walter de Gruyter. p. 799. ISBN 3-11-011451-8.
  4. ^ "Kola Superdeep Borehole (KSDB)". ICDP. Archived from the original on 7 May 2014. Retrieved 15 March 2017.