Centre of the Earth 钻穿地壳

By Neil Bowdler, BBC News

The last attempt to drill into the mantle, Project Mohole, was conducted in 1961. It failed, but its drill location could be the site of a new effort. Two other potential sites are being assessed, including one being actively investigated this spring

媒体英语会带大家一起学习BBC撰稿人在报道世界大事时常用到的单词和短语。

背景：科学家们打算首次尝试深钻地壳直至其下部的地幔。这些科学家们将从太平洋底部开始钻探，以测试这次行动的可行性。他们称深钻至地幔的尝试或将在2018年开始。

They've selected prospective sites under the Pacific Ocean where the crust is at is thinnest - just six kilometres.

Dr Damon Teagle of the UK's National Oceanography Centre in Southampton, is leading the quest. He likens the bid to the retrieval of Moon rocks by the Apollo programme and says samples from the mantle will tell us how our planet was formed and how it's changing.

Dr Teagle says: "Just as the Moon rocks told us about the composition of the Moon and how that relates to the early formation of the Earth itself, so will these samples as well."

Next month, the team will begin abid to drill nearly two kilometres down through the ocean floor off the coast of Costa Rica. They say an attempt to reach the mantle could begin as early as 2018, funds and technology permitting.

Neil Bowdler, BBC News