Mail Buoy
April 17, 2000
Dear Dive and Discover Team: If the hot magma is right under
the Earth’s crust, is
the water at the bottom of the ocean hot?
Felipe
Reilly School
Room 148 - 6th grade
Hi Felipe:
Thanks for your question. The water at the bottom of the ocean
is near freezing. The only time it gets heated up is when there
is a volcanic eruption or there is hydrothermal venting that
carries water from deep in the crust, where it is close to
magma or hot rocks, to the seafloor. The water that comes out
at hydrothermal vents is very hot -- hotter than your Mom’s
stove when she is baking! You can read more about this in the
Hydrothermal Vent section of the web site under the “Deeper
Discovery” section.
Thanks for Diving and Discovering with us.
Best Regards,
Dan Fornari
Dear Dive and Discover Team,
Do you think we
will ever be able to really reach down into the Earth’s
crust from the ocean floor?
Mat
Reilly School
Room 148 - 6th grade
Hi Mat:
Thanks for your question. Scientists have been trying to penetrate
the Earth’s ocean crust by drilling deep holes. They have
tried several times to reach the upper mantle beneath the oceans,
but the drilling is very difficult because of all the heat and
the hard rocks. But scientists have been drillling into the Earth’s
crust, both on land and in the oceans for many years, mostly
for oil and gas exploration, but also for basic research. The
Ocean Drilling Program has made important contributions to our
understanding of how seafloor spreading works and what the sediment
and rock layers are in the ocean crust at different places in
the world. You can learn more about the Ocean Drilling Program
at the following web site:http://www.oceandrilling.org
Keep checking back and Diving and Discovering with us.
Best Regards,
Dan Fornari
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