Hunting Buried Treasure

The surface of the earth hides much treasure, buried below. Oil, gas, precious metals, scientific findings, and potentially valuable geothermal heat. How nice it would be to have the ability to look beneath the earth, to find all the treasures there.

High-resolution images that reveal unexpected details of the Earth's internal structure are among the results reported by MIT and Purdue scientists in the March 30 issue of Science. The researchers adapted technology developed for near-surface exploration of reservoirs of oil and gas to image the core-mantle boundary some 2,900 kilometers, or 1,800 miles, beneath Central and North America.

"Rather than depth, it's the resolution and lateral scale that are unique in this work," said lead author Rob van der Hilst, professor of earth, atmospheric and planetary sciences (EAPS) and director of MIT's Earth Resources Laboratory. "This could lead to a new era in seismology and all the other deep Earth sciences. In addition, our new expertise may be able to improve how we look for oil in or beneath geologically complex structures such as the Gulf of Mexico salt domes," he said.

The technique--akin to medical imaging such as ultrasounds and CAT scans--led to detailed new images of the boundary between the Earth's core and mantle. These images, in turn, help researchers better understand how and where the Earth's internal heat is produced and how it is transported to the surface. They also provide insight into the Earth's giant heat engine--a constant cycle of heat production, heat transfer and cooling.

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A recent seismic survey in California located a 50 million year old impact crater three miles in diameter, buried 4300 feet deep under sediment.

A better understanding of geologic structure would help to utilise the geothermal energy trapped in dry hot rocks.

Finally, should the a large comet or asteroid hit the planet before humans learn to utilise the lebensraum available in the greater solar system, it might be necessary to establish large scale communities underground, powered by nuclear energy. It might even be necessary to build these communities as "generation ships", suitable for long term survival until the surface of earth became livable again.

It is, after all, our planet. Understanding it better--inside and out--is simply smart thinking. Preparing for all contingencies.