Deep Ocean Drilling

Deep ocean drilling is a way scientists learn about our planet. They use big ships with long drills. The drills go through the water and into the rocks below the ocean floor. The rocks they bring up help tell the story of Earth's past.

How It Works

A special ship called a drillship holds a very long pipe. The pipe goes down through miles of water. Then it drills into the rock and mud at the bottom. Workers pull up long sticks of rock called cores. Each core is like a layer cake of Earth's history.

What Scientists Find

The rock cores show what the Earth was like millions of years ago. Scientists find tiny fossils and old volcano ash inside. They learn how the ocean and weather have changed over time. Deep drilling also helps us understand earthquakes. The samples even give clues about how life on Earth began.

Fun Facts

• The deepest ocean drilling has gone over 2 miles below the seafloor.
• The drillship JOIDES Resolution was used for ocean drilling for many years.
• Some rock cores from drilling are billions of years old.

Did You Know?

Scientists have found tiny living things called microbes living in rocks deep below the ocean floor, where there is no sunlight.