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Re-energizing the quest of drilling to the mantle

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment volume 4, pages 207–208 (2023)Cite this article

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Drilling into the uppermost mantle through a complete section of intact ocean crust, formed at a fast-spreading mid-ocean ridge, would liberate fundamental knowledge into Earth processes. The activities and achievement will also inspire future generations of geoscientists, who are essential to adapt to climate change and deliver the energy transition.

Scientific ocean drilling is one of the most successful enduring international collaborations and is responsible for delivering fundamental observations and key samples essential for major advances in Earth sciences. Insights from drilling projects include critical evidence for plate tectonics, the breakup of continents, the development of detailed biostratigraphic timescales and palaeoclimate records1, the mechanisms and consequences of the Chicxulub impact that extinguished the dinosaurs2, and explorations of the frontiers of subsea-floor life3.

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Fig. 1: Drilling to the mantle in ocean crust formed at a fast-spreading mid-ocean ridge.

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  1. School of Ocean and Earth Science, National Oceanography Centre Southampton, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK

    Damon A. H. Teagle

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  1. Damon A. H. Teagle
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Correspondence to Damon A. H. Teagle.

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Teagle, D.A.H. Re-energizing the quest of drilling to the mantle. Nat Rev Earth Environ 4, 207–208 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-023-00413-0

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