![]() ![]() Many geologists believe the Moho-estimated to be 3 to 6 miles under the seafloor, and much deeper under continents-marks the border between the earth’s crust and mantle. John Steinbeck chronicled one of their first attempts. Kennedy vowed to send an American to the moon. Scientists first set out to drill through the ocean floor in search of the Moho the same year President John F. He hypothesized that materials of two different densities met at such spots, causing the wave to change speeds abruptly. The Croatian seismologist observed that the velocity of an earthquake’s seismic waves changed when they got to a boundary deep under the earth’s surface. Scientists have been eager to touch the Moho since Andrija Mohorovicic identified it in 1909. Tectonic windows could also provide a shorter shot at the Mohorovicic discontinuity, or Moho, an elusive boundary deep beneath the earth’s surface. The geochemistry of fluids in the plumes of Enceladus, a moon of Saturn, have been inferred by astrobiologists to be similar to the makeup of fluids found at the Atlantis Massif, Dr. Lang said.įinding organic molecules in samples from serpentinization sites could also inform the search for life on other planets, she said. If organic molecules are found there, it could help confirm that serpentinization leads to their creation-and contributed to the genesis of life, Dr. The Joides is aiming to drill to a depth where serpentinization is thought to occur but where temperatures are beyond the limits at which life is known to exist. Lang, a geochemist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the expedition’s co-chief scientist. “These are the building blocks of life," said Susan Q. Research suggests the process generates the energy and geochemical conditions favorable to the creation of organic molecules. Geochemists think serpentinization could help create life. ![]() Olivine, a green, magnesium-rich mineral abundant at such depths, is critical to serpentinization, a reaction that occurs when some minerals encounter seawater. Researchers plan to take samples from the new depths to investigate whether a special mix of rock and water could have spawned life on Earth and possibly other planets. “It’s almost a way of cheating the system," said Jason Sylvan, a biological oceanographer at Texas A&M University. By drilling at tectonic windows, scientists can examine parts of the earth’s inner structure that would otherwise be inaccessible. Joides engineers compared the process to standing on a chair and trying to lower a pencil tied to the end of string into the mouth of a soda bottle with a fan blowing.Īdjacent to the mid-Atlantic Ridge, the Atlantis Massif is a tectonic window, where the tectonic plates spread apart and pull the earth’s deeper layers to the surface. Engineers on the ship plan to lower heavy drilling tools through about 5,400 feet of water to find a hole on the seafloor that is about 15 inches wide. “This is new territory."ĭeepening the hole will be hard. “It’s going to get hot," said geologist Peter Blum, the expedition’s project manager. ![]()
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