What would happened if I cored the Earth?

[fusion]

As the title states, what would happen if I instantaneously drilled a 5 meter hole all the way through the earth? I know that such hole would be devastating to the earth's ecology, but I would like to know if there is anything specific that I am missing. I am pretty sure that there would be a massive earthquake as the magma and other stuff shifted to fill the void. I am, also, sure that there would be two large volcanoes as a result of this. However, I am not sure about the specifics. Like how long would this last or how long would it take for the events to occur.

This is for a small fiction that I am writing. Thanks in advance.

[STARSHIPDUDE]

Nothing.

[Tarsas]

Theoretically the death star operated off this principle, drilling a large hole instantaneously and causing the planet's core to go critical.

[Dass.Kapital]

I would second the 'Nothing' comment.

While the amount of matter removed (5m dia cylinder through the earths mass) is not inconsiderable...I do not think such a 'relatively' small amount would cause much change. Not even sure if it would allow the plates some 'quick wriggle room' as things shifted.

Now....depending upon if said amount was 'replaced' as opposed to simply vanish (Implying a vacuum left behind)?

That's another thought.

Much cheers to you and yours.

[fusion]

I would second the 'Nothing' comment.

While the amount of matter removed (5m dia cylinder through the earths mass) is not inconsiderable...I do not think such a 'relatively' small amount would cause much change. Not even sure if it would allow the plates some 'quick wriggle room' as things shifted.

Now....depending upon if said amount was 'replaced' as opposed to simply vanish (Implying a vacuum left behind)?

That's another thought.

Much cheers to you and yours.

Oh I what I meant by cored is that the material was never replaced, it just vanished. IE: a 5 meter dimensional door just happens to go through earth, leaving behind a 5 meter hole that is now basically a vacuum. And thanks, I guess that makes sense

And what about the hole? Could a 5 meter hole in the right place, say over Yellowstone national park, lead to a supervolcano?

[Simon_Jester]

I have a sneaking suspicion that in many places, the sides of the hole would just cave in. Deep in the interior of the Earth, the pressures are high enough that the rock/magma/hyperpressurized nickel-iron material around the hole would be squeezed in very quickly.

You'd get a pretty impressive and very strange earthquake out of that, I don't know how extensive it would be or how noticeable it would be on the surface, though.

In some places, doing this might destabilize an existing geologic formation and touch off some kind of major event- doing it over a high pressure oil deposit at shallow depth (back when there were any in the world) would cause a 'gusher' of oil to flood up out of the hole. Doing it over the magma chamber of a volcano might well set off the volcano for all I know, too.

Theoretically the death star operated off this principle, drilling a large hole instantaneously and causing the planet's core to go critical.

That wouldn't work.

[Korto]

Theoretically the death star operated off this principle, drilling a large hole instantaneously and causing the planet's core to go critical.

Goes critical HOW? The core of the earth is nickle-iron, not some huge atomic bomb just waiting for a convenient "dampener-core" to be pulled to go off.

I would personally think a five-metre hole should have a pretty good chance of starting a volcanic eruption, but even if it did, it wouldn't be anything particularly earth-shattering ( ). We have plenty of volcanoes, the planet's used to them. The cause would be unique, but the effect wouldn't be.

[STARSHIPDUDE]

Theoretically the death star operated off this principle, drilling a large hole instantaneously and causing the planet's core to go critical.

Goes critical HOW? The core of the earth is nickle-iron, not some huge atomic bomb just waiting for a convenient "dampener-core" to be pulled to go off.

I would personally think a five-metre hole should have a pretty good chance of starting a volcanic eruption, but even if it did, it wouldn't be anything particularly earth-shattering ( ). We have plenty of volcanoes, the planet's used to them. The cause would be unique, but the effect wouldn't be.

Maybe a gravity overload?

I still think there would just be a hole, though.

[Darth Tanner]

Maybe a gravity overload?

A what? Are you making terms up? Surely gravity is if anything going to decrease seeing as a large chunk of mass just vanished, not by a noticeable amount though. It would only be around 250,000 cubic meters of material disappearing out of the Earth so roughly 0.00000000000002% of total volume.

My vote is for earthquakes around the hole surfaces as it collapses and probably some tornadoes as the air rushes in to fill the vacuum but nothing too serious or Earth shattering.

[chewbackster]

Seriously bro, you've never heard of a gravity overload?

[STARSHIPDUDE]

Well, I think what Tarsas is trying to say is that the hole would collapse so quickly that there would be a gravity spike due the enormous amount of mass being shifted. This would make the liquid nickel atoms in the earth's core and mantle splash against each other so fast they would undergo nuclear fission. Or possibly a polarity shift so they would actually repel each other.



But I think there would just be a hole. Maybe a little cyclone but no tornadoes.

[Simon_Jester]

Well, I think what Tarsas is trying to say is that the hole would collapse so quickly that there would be a gravity spike due the enormous amount of mass being shifted. This would make the liquid nickel atoms in the earth's core and mantle splash against each other so fast they would undergo nuclear fission.

Sheer gibberish, if so- it'd be like whispering and causing air currents that make a feather land on someone's skin, which somehow causes their head to explode.

There's a huge disconnect between "cause" (hole in planet) and "effect" (planet go boom).

[STARSHIPDUDE]

So I was right.

[loomer]

Seriously bro, you've never heard of a gravity overload?

No, because there's no such thing.

[SilverWingedSeraph]

It would only be around 250,000 cubic meters of material disappearing out of the Earth so roughly 0.00000000000002% of total volume.

You mean 250,000 cubic kilometers. The kilo part is important.

[GrandMasterTerwynn]

As the title states, what would happen if I instantaneously drilled a 5 meter hole all the way through the earth? I know that such hole would be devastating to the earth's ecology, but I would like to know if there is anything specific that I am missing. I am pretty sure that there would be a massive earthquake as the magma and other stuff shifted to fill the void. I am, also, sure that there would be two large volcanoes as a result of this. However, I am not sure about the specifics. Like how long would this last or how long would it take for the events to occur.

This is for a small fiction that I am writing. Thanks in advance.

Here's what would happen. Pay attention now, 'cause this is important . . .

ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.

Five meters is what . . . a motor home? The radius of the Earth is some 6.5 million meters. So you have a really tiny, really long hole, drilled through highly plastic and/of fluid substances.

The hole collapses almost instantly up to the first five or ten meters. The collapse progressing through the relatively inflexible crust may trigger a small (highly localized) earthquake, which may trigger a somewhat larger earthquake along a preexisting fault (as you modify what strain lies where.) You won't create your very own volcano, because most continental crust is roughly 30,000 to 40,000 meters thick. Even if you pierced a region of low-viscosity, high gas-content magma, it would not make it very far up the hole before the pressure generated by the overlying rock stops it dead in its tracks.

[Simon_Jester]

Deep in the interior I'm sure you'd get a collapse before anything happened. Said as much myself, more or less. If you did it in a region where there are existing volcanoes, even then you'd have the rocks collapse before lava from the existing chambers made it to the surface?

Huh. I'll take your word for it, but I'm surprised.

Also, the earthquake... yeah, not very impressive relative to the whole planet, but it would sure look weird on a seismograph.

[Dass.Kapital]

Goelogist1:"Say...that's weird..."

Geologist2:"The earth just moved for you too, didn't it?"

*Both look at seismographs with puzzled expressions*



Sorry, couldn't resist!

Much cheers to you and yours.

[Malagar]

It would only be around 250,000 cubic meters of material disappearing out of the Earth so roughly 0.00000000000002% of total volume.

You mean 250,000 cubic kilometers. The kilo part is important.

He is missing some digits, but you have 3 too many, the true amount is 250,5 cubic km of material.
[/nitpick]

[Simon_Jester]

It would only be around 250,000 cubic meters of material disappearing out of the Earth so roughly 0.00000000000002% of total volume.

You mean 250,000 cubic kilometers. The kilo part is important.

Uh, no, Seraph, a hole five meters wide and 12700 kilometers deep does NOT add up to 250000 cubic kilometers. That would be equal in volume to a cube roughly... sixty kilometers on a side.

While one kilometer is one thousand meters, one cubic kilometer is not one thousand cubic meters. It is one billion cubic meters- a cube one kilometer on a side, or 1000*1000*1000 cubic meters.

Here, the hole is roughly twenty square meters in cross-sectional area (pi r squared). It is also roughly 12,700,000 meters long (commas used to mark every third decimal place, not as decimal points in the European style). So its volume...

20 square meters * 12700000 meters = 252000000 cubic meters = roughly one quarter of a cubic kilometer.

[daredevin]

.. Be optimistic; if you arrive at the earth’s core then you’ll find a new diverse kind of world (just like paradise). Recall the movie of Brandon Praiser, when they reached the center it’s like a world during the reign of dinosaurs, but of course there are beautiful spots. lol