For the past 75 years, people have dreamed of drilling through the Earth’s crust to the mantle.  Thinking of what wonders might await us, perharps a solution to our energy shortages? We are now a step closer, having reached the “gabbro” layer of oceanic crust for the first time.

About 60 per cent of the Earth’s surface is covered in oceanic crust, but there are still many questions about how it forms. Gabbro, a coarse-grained rock that forms as trapped magma slowly cools, might hold some of the answers.

To accomplish this amazing feat, a team led by Douglas Wilson of the University of California bored into the ocean floor 800 kilometres west of Costa Rica.

The tough rock at times only allowed their drills to burrow 10 metres per day, but eventually, at 1157 metres, the team hit gabbro. The hole, now 1500 metres deep, is still about 4 kilometres short of the mantle.  “Shortly will shall possibly discover the undiscovered, and that is exciting!”, states Richard Brassdon of Cal Tech.