Ebook: Super-Deep Continental Drilling and Deep Geophysical Sounding

The articles in this volume were selected from a series of reports delivered in the So­ viet Union at Yaroslavl during the International Seminar "Super-deep drilling and deep geophysical research", which was organized and held in August 1988 by the Ministry of Geology of the USSR, jointly with the Inter-Union Commission on the Lithosphere. One of the most important problems of modem geology, is the state and prospects of further development of deep continental structure investigations, was discussed at the seminar with the participation of 245 scientists and specialists from 19 countries. At the plenary and sectional meetings of the seminar, 83 reports were delivered, discussions on the most interesting problems were organized, the exchange of ideas between the leading scientists a round table took place in discussion. The distinctive feature of the present collection of articles is the wide scope of the investigation of the Earth's crust. The reports elucidate such subjects of world impor­ tance as (1) achievements in implementation of major scientific programs investi­ gating deep Earth structure and plans for their further materialization; (2) theoretical problems of carrying out geological-geophysical explorations and drilling operations; and (3) new approaches to the study of the Earth's interior. The results of deep inves­ tigations of individual countries and organizations are considered, and concrete tech­ nical elaboration, methods of work execution, etc. are discussed.

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The International Seminar on Super-deep continental drillingand deep geophysical research was held at Yaroslawl/Wolga in the USSR, August 23-29, 1988. The unique feature of this international conference was the combination of reports on drilling technology, scientific interpretation of logs from boreholes with reports on geological transects and on deep geophysical sounding. The new frontier in the exploration of the lithosphere is the combination of remote sensing and imaging with deep drilling, whereby the latter provides direct access to the deeper part of the crystalline Earth's crust. Super-deep drilling into depth ranges with conditions of high pressure-temperature and high chemical reaction rates challenges the imagination and abilities of the best of engineers. Super-deep drilling is also a tremendous challenge to all geoscientists since it provides "ground truth" for a wide spectrum of remote sensing and imaging methods that can be applied to the crystalline crust. The reader will find the latest achievements about drilling into the continental crust.