Ocean Abyss Drilling: Revealing the Origin and Future Destiny of Life on Earth

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Recently, a team of scientists came to the southern waters of New Zealand by boat. They investigated the important clues of dinosaur extinction and tried to predict the future development of the earth. They tried to reveal the mystery of the earth's historical events by drilling the earth's crust, and collected samples of seabed sediments and ancient rocks in the South Pacific. Based on these samples, scientists are exploring some of the longest and most urgent questions: What happened after the extinction of dinosaurs? What will happen to life forms when the earth warms or cools sharply? Can millions of years of earth history tell us about the future development of the earth?

1, kops said: "Through seabed drilling activities, we can understand how the planet evolved on the planetary scale. In fact, this is a basic question about the origin of life on earth, and this research can be extended to any planet. "

The abyss of the ocean may reveal the mystery of the earth.

Anthony kops, a professor of marine geology at Oregon State University, explained that marine evolution, the earth's environment and climate records are all preserved in marine sediments.

Drilling seabed sediments may touch the ocean crust. Kops said that one advantage of drilling into the ocean crust is that it is about 7 kilometers thick, while the continental crust is several times thicker than the ocean crust. Submarine drilling can collect samples in the adjacent mantle area.

Kops said: "We can learn how planets evolve on the planetary scale through seabed drilling activities. In fact, this is a basic question about the origin of life on earth, and this research can be extended to any planet. "

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the United States began scientific research on ocean drilling through the "Mohor Plan" drilling at the bottom of the earth's crust. At that time, drilling activities did not reach the crust, and the maximum depth was 183m. In 20 19, the maximum drilling depth of Chikyu, a Japanese marine survey vessel, was 3,250 meters.

At present, the plan to drill the upper mantle is still far away, but kops stressed that we should not indulge in the "digital game" of drilling depth, and drilling deep holes on the seabed is not the focus of attention. The in-depth analysis of seabed sediments may reveal some mysteries of the earth's history.

Ocean drilling can provide evidence for plate tectonic theory, revealing that the Arctic was in subtropical climate in ancient times, and there was frozen methane hydrate-combustible ice on the seabed of the Arctic. In addition, there may be some mysterious microorganisms hidden in the depths of the seabed.

Ocean drilling produces more questions than answers.

Kops said, "We only drill in very shallow areas of the seabed crust. In the past 50 years, we have gradually formed a new understanding, but in fact, in the process of ocean drilling, there are far more questions than answers. "

At present, kops and the offshore drilling team are laying the foundation for a real scientific breakthrough, which is also the scientific discovery that every paleooceanographer dreams of! For decades, the oil drilling ship "JOIDES Resolution" with a history of 465,438+0 years has been the main vessel for deep-sea drilling activities.

In order to study the international ocean exploration plan, the last mission of the "Ides Resolution" was to sail to the Campbell Plateau in southern New Zealand. The crew of this voyage included Laura Haynes, a seafloor sedimentologist and postdoctoral fellow at Rutgers University, and Elizabeth siebert, a physicist at Harvard University.

Haines said: "It is the dream of every paleooceanographer to sail at the JOIDES resolution. We have been expecting this opportunity for almost 10 years! "

Working seven days a week in shifts of 12 hours a day for 60 days in a row is not an easy voyage for 30 marine scientists. Brad Clemente, director of the planning science service department of IODP, said: "Our ocean exploration has never stopped. The voyage didn't call at port, and the staff didn't drink. Drilling has been going on all day. The 9.5-meter-long seabed core sample was immediately studied and analyzed after being brought to the surface.

Kops said that this ocean exploration ship can drill about 7 kilometers of seabed sediments in two months. Fortunately, we can drill through the hardest crust with a thickness of 1 km.

The research team was able to drill deep enough into the seabed crust and found reliable evidence of the greatest heat in Paleocene-Eocene, which was a global warming event about 55.5 million years ago. Haines said, "This is the best analytical data to understand the climate change caused by human activities. The plan of this marine survey includes: understanding how life on earth responds to major global changes, such as global warming or cooling, and species extinction events. "

It is reported that Elizabeth has participated in a study on the extinction of dinosaurs, and the research report will be published in the first half of this year. The data in the research report is based on the core samples collected on the seabed in 20 12. This study found reliable evidence that an asteroid collided with Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula 66 million years ago and led to the extinction of dinosaurs.

Long-term projects/plans

At present, there are still many problems in ocean drilling activities, such as how carbon dioxide interacts in the submarine mantle. Understanding this will help to study the role of marine crust in future carbon sequestration.

Among the scientific projects planned by IODP for the next 30 years, one is to explore the depth of the earth's ocean, and one of the goals is for the probe to reach the upper mantle. According to kops' assessment, it will take more than one year to drill through the 7-kilometer-thick crust, and the selection of several drilling sites near Hawaii Island needs urgent discussion.

Clement explained that the biggest challenge is that the temperature is very high and the pressure is very high when drilling on the seabed. Every time the drill pipe is pulled out of the seabed, the drilling hole will automatically close. We still need 65,438+00-20 years to master the deep seabed drilling technology.

Siebert pointed out that the research team is very willing to study the evidence of the Cenozoic era after the "reset button" of dinosaur extinction started 66 million years ago, and the boundary between Eocene and Oligocene, and analyze when the ice sheet became a permanent feature of Antarctica. We found some unexpected and important discoveries. You never know what you will find when drilling in the ocean until these research results appear on the survey ship.

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