Watching a city crew drill test cores outside of our office building (preliminary investigation on the proposed BayTerminal tunnel) prompted a discussion of the earth's surface. The conversation went something like this:
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PT: I wonder if anyone's drilled completely through the earth's crust.
NM: Of course they have, how else do they know that you'd end up in China?
RM: Hahahaha
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A quick Google search provided much amusing (while still informative) information on the thickness of the Earth's crust. Cross section diagrams, cut-aways and strange comparisions of the earth's structure to a 'scotch egg' (?) made one fact abundantly clear: there is a dire need for good graphics in the scientific community. That point aside, I found this interesting graphic showing the earthquake zones of the 20th century, defining the edges of the major tectonic plates. Interestingly, the section was titled "Hell's Crust", just for dramatic effect, I take it.
After all, China isn't Hell, is it?
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note: in terms of depth of the Earth's crust, the ocean floors are the thinnest (down to 30 kilometers thick) while Greenland and the Himalayas are the thickest points on the crust (60-70 kilometers thick). All this talk about crust makes me think of pie. mmmm
Hey Nance - love the geo section on your website! Having a lovely time looking around and thinking of you whilst reading your amusing commentary. Keep it coming!
Posted by: Adrian | May 27, 2005 at 02:22 PM