China’s new ship can drill at 11 kms deep to reveal the secrets of the earthly cloak

China is preparing to venture out where humanity has rarely been before: under the earth’s crust in its cloak.

To realize this aspiration, sent the Meng Xiang – which means “dream” – a colossal built to pierce kilometers of marine background.

According to, if successful, this mission may Unravel secrets from the interior of the earth and the tectonic forces that shape our planet.

Meng Xiang officially entered service in November 2024allegedly with an ability to pierce up to 11 kms (6.8 miles) below the bottom of the sea.

Few other scientific drilling ships exist – and none of this caliber. There is the Japan chikyū with a maximum perforation depth of 7 km (4.3 miles) and there was JOIDES Resolution American ownership with a maximum of 8.4 kms (5.2 miles), but the latter has been dismantled.

O Meng Xiang is the latest successor of these two literal pioneers. Com 179,8 m From bow to stern, the giant ship is able to be self -sufficient for 120 days and can accommodate a 180 people crewas well as Nine scientific laboratories that investigate domains such as geology, geochemistry, microbiology and the science of the oceans.

The deepest artificial hole on earth is known as Kola Superdeep Boreholereaching a depth of 12 262 m (40 230 feet) below northern Russia. It is more than 1 km deeper than Meng Xiang’s drilling potential, but it is important to note that the land crust is thinner in some areas than in others.

Inside, the continental crust is about 37.5 kms (23 miles) thick. However, the ocean crust often has only 5 to 7 km (3 to 4 miles) thick. There are also medium-oceanic cresters where it is even thinner, due to Dynamics Gesticulation Geological.

This was explored by scientists who used their relative thickness to collect samples from the earthly cloak, although Meng Xiang expects to reach this layer drilling kilometers of crust.

“Samples of deep terrestrial nuclei that the probe recovers will provide direct direct evidence to study the tectonic plates, the evolution of the oceanic crust, the old marine climates and the evolution of life. Will help humanity to understand better, protect and use the oceans, ”he said Xu Zhenqiang, Director of the Guangzhou Marine Geological Service.

In turn, James Austina seismic stratigropist at the University of Texas in Austin said that “I am very happy that China has struggled to provide a ship.”