An international team of scientists on board the RRS James Cook set sail this week to drill through the Earth’s mantle in the centre of the Atlantic Ocean. In the presence of seawater, rocks in the Earth’s mantle produce methane, hydrogen and heat. Such rock reactions excite scientists because they represent possible sources to fuel life in the absence of sunlight and may be analogous to conditions found on other planets, or early in Earth’s history.
During the six-week expedition the team plan to drill at 11 sites in water depths of 720 to 1770 metres and recover cores between 50 and 70 metres in length. To achieve this two state-of-the-art robot drills have been installed on the RRS James Cook, which will be controlled remotely by the scientists and engineers on the board. This is the first expedition of this kind to use this type of remotely operated drilling technology as well as the first time a UK research ship is being used for this branch of science.