Japanese people are living in a very dangerous place, with their archipelago sitting on the top of at least three active tectonic plates. So you can understand why they want to study the earth's mantle to learn more about the interaction between these crustal plates. They recently launched the $540 million Chikyu ship -- Chikyu meaning Earth in Japanese -- just for that purpose. According to Scientific American, this humongous vessel is weighing 57,500 tons for a length of 210 meters. And the top of its derrick, which will be able to dig through 7,000 meters of crust, will rise 112 meters above the waterline. This ship will start its exploration operations in October as part of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program. Read more...
Sources: Tim Hornyak, Scientific American, September 26, 2005; and various web sites
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