Leading the Way: Project Mohole

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Leading the Way

ProjectHoHole

REPRINTED FROM THE DECEMBER 2008 EDITION OF OFFSHORE FRONTIERS, PREDECESSOR PUBLICATION TO BEACON. The article was submitted by author Clyde Burleson based on information that appears in his book, Deep Challenge (available at Amazon.com).

In 1909, after a massive earthquake in Croatia, seismographs across Europe recorded a double set of tracings.

The assumption was that there had been two closely linked shocks. Then a professor at the University of Zagreb proposed a monumental theory. The two shockwaves were actually one, traveling through the earth at two different speeds. One, moving in the earth’s crust, was slower than the other, which passed through a more dense stratum beneath the crust. He postulated that the earth’s outer surface “floated” on a flexible layer of rock.

Subsequent tests showed this to be the case and the boundary between the earth’s crust and mantle was named the “Mohorovicic discontinuity” after the daring professor. In time this was shortened to “Moho” or, even briefer, “M.”

In 1956, in a letter to Science magazine, Dr. Frank B. Estabrook proposed boring through the earth’s crust into the Moho. This was no small task as the crust averages about 24-miles thick. Deep in the ocean, however, the crust thins to less than 30,000 feet.

Making hole in the sea floor three miles down, though, seemed impossible.

Later in 1956, professors Harry Hess and Walter Munk began seeking a breakthrough geophysical experiment. Dr. Monk suggested obtaining a sample of the earth’s mantle. Dr. Hess brought up the matter for discussion at a meeting of the American Miscellaneous Society, called AMSOC. AMSOC meetings were less than formal and even wild ideas got a serious hearing. Sampling the mantle struck a note, and a committee was formed to explore this possibility.

Then, in 1957 during a conference in Toronto, a Soviet scientist stated that his nation had the equipment to do the job and was seeking a site. The Russian announcement sparked American competitive drive and Project Mohole was born.

Drilling down 25,000 feet had been done. Phillips Petroleum Company sank a well in Pecos County, Texas, over that depth. The problem was to drill in 15,000 feet of water.

Not to mention finding a way to move the drill string in and out of the well bore as the need arose.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) convened a meeting and A. J. Field, an engineer with Waterfall, Inc., predecessor company to Global Marine, showed a film. CUSS I, floating unanchored, was drilling in 200 feet of water. The film inspired a frenzy of activity.

BobBauer
Bob Bauer

Bob Bauer, who oversaw the CUSS I offshore effort and was a natural leader of men, visualized a marine drilling company that would take on all challenges. CUSS I was the first step. If CUSS I and her team could do what no one had done before, the concept of deepwater drilling would be a proven fact.

Waterfall, Inc., which was to become Global Marine, had the only tested means of accomplishing the Mohole Project goal. So the firm was contracted to modify CUSS I to carry out the project’s first phase. This was to demonstrate the feasibility of working at unprecedented depths.

Dynamic positioning in the water, a heave-compensation system for the drilling platform, and a means of reentry into the hole had to be designed and perfected. Bob

Bauer’s conviction, business sense, and steadfast leadership played a crucial role in driving the team forward.

By March 9, 1961, CUSS I was successfully drilling in 3,100 feet of water.

Later that same month, the CUSS I team brought up a core from a depth of 11,000 feet. What had been a daunting challenge had been met.

Project Mohole fell victim to political pressures, cost overruns, poor vendor selection, and financial constraints caused by the war in Vietnam. The only success coming from the entire venture was due to the work of dedicated men who showed the world what could be done. Bob Bauer and his colleagues ushered in the age of deepwater drilling.

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