WorldWide Drilling Resource

53 WorldWide Drilling Resource ® OCTOBER 2014 Drilling to Hell: Urban Legends and The Strange Truth Compiled by Amy White, Associate Editor WorldWide Drilling Resource ® A geological group who drilled a hole about 14.4 kilometers [8 miles] deep in the crust of the earth is saying that they heard human screams . Screams have been heard from the condemned souls from the earth’s deepest hole. Terrified scientists are afraid they have let loose the evil pow- ers of hell up to the earth’s surface. ‘The information we are gathering is so surprising that we are sincerely afraid of what we might find down there,’ said Dr. Azzacov, manager of the drilling project in remote Siberia. This supposedly true account of the world’s spookiest drilling project began to make its way around the globe in the early 1990s. I remember hearing the rumor myself. The scary event occurred in some obscure part of the world while also being sensational and impossible to document - all the makings of an urban legend. But sometimes the truth can be just as intriguing as legend. When I first heard about the Door to Hell in Darvaza, Turkmenistan, I thought maybe this fiery pit of doom was just another urban legend. However, the Door to Hell is a real place. The legend goes like this: While conducting gas drilling in the Kara-Kum desert, geologists acciden- tally discovered an underground cham- ber. The dri l l rig col lapsed, and the giant crater filled with gases. In an attempt to contain the gases, they were set ablaze with the expecta- tion they would burn off within a few days. The year was 1971. As of 2014, the fire is still burning. The Darvaza Gas Crater has been nicknamed the Door to Hell. The 40-year flaming pit has become an unlikely tourist destination in the middle of a desert. The crater is 225 feet wide, and 99 feet deep. George Kourounis from National Geographic described the site as “a col iseum of f ire.” In 2013, he became the first person to ever descend into the crater. He went down to collect soil samples to see if life could survive in these harsh conditions. His results were positive and exciting. Life was sparse, but it was there. Kourounis hopes his study will provide clues about life in similar conditions at other loca- tions in the universe. Kourounis spoke about urban leg- The Door to Hell in Turkmenistan. Dealmakers Congratulations to Powell Drilling, Inc. of Texas, on purchasing their third SIMCO ® drill rig. Pictured are Darren Swolley with SIMCO ® of Osceola, Iowa; and Carol and Wayne Powell. SIMCO ® Drilling Equipment, Inc. Send your deals to: promotions@ worldwidedrillingresource.com Lingong Chief Technology Officer Zhi Kaiying from Lingong of Linyi, China, shakes hands with Chief Technology Officer Alexy Sharin of GBU Zhilishnik during the key-transferring ceremony for the wheel loader behind them. Lingong won the bid and supplied 96 custom-built SDLG wheel loaders to GBU Zhilishnik for infrastucture projects in Russia. ends, and the fact that local Turkmen geologists tell a different account of events compared to the popular legend about the Door to Hell. They said the collapse might have happened as early as the 1960s, and gases remained unlit until the 1980s. No records exist to prove what exactly took place, or when i t happened. The detai ls are shrouded in mystery, just like any good legend. Kourounis wore a heat-resis- tant suit into the pit. Photo by Daniel Byers, National Geographic Channels.