"No."

Ok, so we're done here?

Every time I read the work "magma"...

I read it in Dr. Evil's voice with the awkward pause afterwards.

http://what-if.xkcd.com/ ?

You're making a mountain out of a mohole.

It depends on the drill.

Core, mantle. Let's not get overly technical here.

CHA

not5am: http://what-if.xkcd.com/ ?

Dammit, I was going to suggest the same thing. But, now I will suggest it to XKCD instead

It's the equivalent of piercing a champagne cork with a pin rather than removing the entire cork at once.

I guarantee you if you put a hole in a champagne cork the size of a pin shaft, champagne will spurt out.

The problem here is that cork is compressed. Shove a pin through a cork and you poke a small hole and spread it open, and of course upon withdrawal the hole closes shut. The cork is squeezed into the champagne bottle, so there's pressure there too.

This isn't true for the earth. For one thing, the drill isn't a solid shaft; we drill a hole, we follow it, we pull the drill out and replace the head, we put the drill back down the hole and drill more. If you hit a pocket of pressurized lava YES IT IS GOING TO SPURT OUT JUST LIKE A POCKET OF PRESSURIZED OIL DOES IN REAL LIFE!

Was Dr. Evil Correct?

Let me stop you there, subby.

No

In Louisiana that doesn't stop us from trying.

Meatybrain: If you irritate the mantle it will just close up in its shell.

Only if it's a legitimate drill.

If I drill someone's "mantle", I will erupt with "magma". And you know what I mean...

The Meklar advisors recommend researching Deep Core Mine before engaging in such folly.

Wouldn't the usual thinking be to place an atomic device in the bore hole and detonate it? For science.

IAtetheChupacabra: If I drill someone's "mantle", I will erupt with "magma". And you know what I mean...

You're into buttchugging?

"Stupid"? What? Isn't explaining why something is (and providing some semi-interesting related anecdotes) better than just saying "No"?

Hail Robonia: Well done.
bluefoxicy: Is that a geotroll? You serious?

Mose: Every time I read the work "magma"...

I read it in Dr. Evil's voice with the awkward pause afterwards.

I can't read German at all, but I would guess Dr. Evil's voice would be good for the audio version.

Why is it stupid, to provide enough explanation so that people will actually understand why it won't happen, and thus won't run around like panicked chickens?

Sounds like a pretty smart idea to me, actually.

Think about the people who live inside the earth,won't they get pissed if they see a large drill above them?

Parthenogenetic: Slate examines a silly conjecture and y'all gripe, but it's cool when xkcd does it?

[i.imgur.com image 211x186]

Link

/ *ding* You've Got Link!

StickyBunBandit: Think about the people who live inside the earth,won't they get pissed if they see a large drill above them?

They need More Locks.

KarmicDisaster: [www.posterpalace.com image 750x586]


/hot

Magmanauts? For the Core!

Parthenogenetic: Slate examines a silly conjecture and y'all gripe, but it's cool when xkcd does it?

[i.imgur.com image 211x186]

XKCD has funny stick-figures, so... yeah.

/It also has math.

icky icky icky pokang zoom boing: You serious?

Yes I'm serious. Think about it. Hit an underground lake or lava pool, nothing. Hit oil (always full of pressurized helium), a pressurized lake, or a pressurized lava flow (as they often are!), and liquefied shiat will come spurting out that hole. It's happened with pressurized gas, pressurized water, pressurized oil, it will happen with pressurized lava. How much lava comes out at once depends on the pressure and the size of the hole, whereas total volume depends on pressure and volume.

MBooda: In Louisiana that doesn't stop us from trying.
[brandonmichaelblack.com image 440x352]

I've been to the rip van winkle gardens on jefferson island. it's interesting to see how that property changed because of the lake disaster. plus, they have good footage of the whole disaster. interesting to hear people near the lake (or on it) thinking it was probably the end of the world.

It's a good thing that article was as short as it was irrelevant.

I could probably do a book on what it would take to drill into the mantle. Somewhere in between would be a decent article.

I don't know where I'm-a gonna go when the volcano blows.

highendmighty: Meklar advisors recommend researching Deep Core Mine before engaging in such folly.

Psilon Technocrats know that you should build the Core Waste Dump before the Deep Core Mine.

Alternate-timeline Vulcan begs to differ...

drill into the Greymantle

HailRobonia: IAtetheChupacabra: If I drill someone's "mantle", I will erupt with "magma". And you know what I mean...

You're into buttchugging?

Well, I hope my own mantle won't rupture or anything

oryx: Core, mantle. Let's not get overly technical here.

As a geologist, I'm (not) getting a kick out of these replies.

bluefoxicy:

Lava is on the surface, magma is underground. Oil underground is pressurized by gas and would behave nothing like the mantle, which is not pressurized. The mantle is highly viscous. Magma chambers in the crust may be pressurized by thermodynamics. Magma is considered a mantle melt.

Trust me, I'm a scientist.

icky icky icky pokang zoom boing: bluefoxicy:

Lava is on the surface, magma is underground. Oil underground is pressurized by gas and would behave nothing like the mantle, which is not pressurized. The mantle is highly viscous. Magma chambers in the crust may be pressurized by thermodynamics. Magma is considered a mantle melt.

Trust me, I'm a scientist.

Who, until recently, said "ni"!

litmusdragon: [i48.tinypic.com image 540x662]

i thought that the only purpose for science journalism was to inspire our next generation of sci-fi movies.

i agree, it DOES feel good, ....on the hole

bluefoxicy: It's the equivalent of piercing a champagne cork with a pin rather than removing the entire cork at once.

I guarantee you if you put a hole in a champagne cork the size of a pin shaft, champagne will spurt out.

The problem here is that cork is compressed. Shove a pin through a cork and you poke a small hole and spread it open, and of course upon withdrawal the hole closes shut. The cork is squeezed into the champagne bottle, so there's pressure there too.

This isn't true for the earth. For one thing, the drill isn't a solid shaft; we drill a hole, we follow it, we pull the drill out and replace the head, we put the drill back down the hole and drill more. If you hit a pocket of pressurized lava YES IT IS GOING TO SPURT OUT JUST LIKE A POCKET OF PRESSURIZED OIL DOES IN REAL LIFE!

Actually. When you go deep enough. Rock would probably behave in much the same way as you describe cork.