Oh, I know where the earth's deepest hole is..............

Your outhouse?

I recall that South African gold mines or diamond mines are now more than a mile deep. Some time ago I posted an article about scientists finding in situ bacteria in rock more than a mile below the surface and living off sulfates (?) in the rock.

Funny, I always thought that the deepest spots on earth were the great 7-mile trenches in the sea floors. Oh well.

You'd need to find a hole in the trench, just as a hole in a cave, to qualify for this honor (I think). In addition, there are deeper man-made mines aside from the one I mentioned in S.Afr.

The Bible speaks of "the bottomless pit"

I always spoke of my son's stomach as the bottomless pit.

Mrs H

Deep Holes like this on Mars may harbor some slimey life forms.
Wayne, you might get a kick outta this story below...

Some TV show in recent years touted a vent, or deep hole, somewhere in Costa Rica, I believe. I thought it was as deep or deeper than the Croatian one - I guess it isn't. People were parachuting into it - not from the rim, but from planes or helos above the rim, then floating to the bottom. Can't remember how they got out - walls were fairly vertical. Supposedly the big dangers for the jumpers were snagging the chutes on the walls, or air currents that would cause them to crash into the walls. I tried finding out more about the hole in a www search - "404."

This sounds like an urban legend but couldn't find such on snopes.com.

The people who jumped in probably just continued on and emerged when they were in China.

Actually, they prolly bumped heads with those jumping into the hole in Zagreb...

Trivia?

Warning: Dangerous U.S. Volcanoes Not Properly Monitored
By Robert Roy Britt
LiveScience Senior Writer
posted: 29 April 2005
09:53 am ET

Dangerous volcanoes in six states are not adequately monitored, U.S. Geological Survey officials said Friday. The agency called for a new nationwide warning system.

Geologists conducted a new survey of the 169 known U.S. volcanoes and ranked them according to their threat to human life, property and aviation safety.

Alaska, California, Washington State, Oregon, Hawaii, Wyoming all have "dangerous volcanoes with monitoring gaps or no monitoring in place," the report concludes.

"We cannot afford to wait until a hazardous volcano begins to erupt before deploying a modern monitoring effort," said USGS Director Chip Groat. "The consequences put property and people at risk including volcano scientists on site and pilots and passengers in the air."

Though volcanoes erupt sporadically, the risk is real.

747 nearly lost

"We nearly lost a fully loaded Boeing 747 to volcanic ash cloud in Alaska in 1989," said Capt. Ed Miller of the Air Line Pilots Association.

Miller said a partnership with the USGS now provides warnings that help pilots avoid such plumes. When Mount St. Helens woke up last October and spewed ash, the USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory notified air traffic control centers within five minutes.

By placing seismic instruments and other sensors on a volcanic mountain, geologists can detect early warning signs of possible eruptions and also note eruptions that are underway in remote locations. About half of the most threatening volcanoes are monitored at a basic level, the report found, while only a few are well watched.

"Monitoring capabilities at many hazardous volcanoes are sparse or antiquated, and some hazardous volcanoes have no ground-based monitoring whatsoever," the report states.

Eventually ...

Super Volcano Will Challenge Civilization, Geologists Warn

The report calls for a National Volcano Early Warning System (NVEWS) that would create a 24/7 Volcano Watch Office.

"This is the only way to forewarn communities at risk in enough time to activate emergency response plans, and ultimately help save lives and property," Groat said.

The hotspots

Since 1980, there have been 45 eruptions at 33 volcanoes in the United States. Of those, 15 were considered notable, the report found.

The report found 13 "very high threat volcanoes" with inadequate monitoring. Though some erupt infrequently and may be dormant now, geologists expect them to eventually reawaken, and many are near large population center. The list:

Alaska: Redoubt, Makushin, Akutan, and Augustine
California: Shasta, Lassen
Oregon: Hood, South Sister, Crater Lake, Baker, Newberry
Washington: Rainier, Glacier Peak

USGS officials and geologists plans to meet with federal agencies, state and county emergency management agencies, businesses and other organizations to finalize plans for the nationwide early warning system.

Hot on the heels of the above report. I saw this item being "scrolled" across the bottom of CNN news page last nite but no mention of it (verbally that I heard) on any of the media outlets. One of my brothers forwarded it to me this morning...probably nothing to worry about...

Yellowstone is back in business! Thought you'd like to read about this report:
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Yellowstone Listed as High Eruption Threat
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. (May 9) - The Yellowstone caldera has been classified a high threat for volcanic eruption, according to a report from the U.S. Geological Survey.

Yellowstone ranks 21st most dangerous of the 169 volcano centers in the United States, according to the Geological Survey's first-ever comprehensive review of the nation's volcanoes.

Kilauea in Hawaii received the highest overall threat score followed by Mount St. Helens and Mount Rainer in Washington, Mount Hood in Oregon and Mount Shasta in California.

Kilauea has been erupting since 1983. Mount St. Helens, which erupted catastrophically in 1980, began venting again in 2004.

Those volcanoes fall within the very high threat group, which includes 18 systems. Yellowstone is classified with 36 others as high threat.

Recurring earthquake swarms, swelling and falling ground, and changes in hydrothermal features are cited in the report as evidence of unrest at Yellowstone.

The report calls for better monitoring of the 55 volcanoes in the very high and high threat categories to track seismic activity, ground bulging, gas emissions and hydrologic changes.

University of Utah geology professor Robert Smith, who monitors earthquakes and volcanic activity in Yellowstone, said more real-time monitoring should be helpful.

''We've really been stressing over the last couple of years that the USGS should consider hazards as a very high priority in their future,'' he said. ''We need to get the public's confidence and the perception that we're doing it right.''

The university has joined the Geological Survey and Yellowstone National Park in creating the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, which uses ground-based instruments throughout the region and satellite data to monitor volcanic and earthquake unrest in the world's first national park.

The USGS report recognizes Yellowstone as an unusual hazard because of the millions of people who visit the park and walk amid features created by North America's largest volcanic system, Smith said, a status he has been advocating for years.

Smith does not paint the devastating picture portrayed in a recent TV docudrama but said smaller threats exist. For example, a lower-scale hydrothermal blast could scald tourists strolling along boardwalks.

Emissions of toxic gases from the park's geothermal features also pose a threat. Five bison dropped dead last year after inhaling poisonous gases trapped near the ground due to cold, calm weather near Norris Geyser Basin.

Stepped up monitoring and a new 24-hour watch office could lead to more timely warnings and help avoid human catastrophes at Yellowstone and nationally, according to the USGS.

Forty-five eruptions, including 15 cases of notable volcanic unrest, have been documented at 33 volcanoes in the U.S. since 1980, according to the report, released April 29.

05-09-05 20:14 EDT