The depth of the Kola Superdeep. Well to hell: why the drilling of the deepest well was stopped. Location of the Kola ultradeep station

In 2008, the deepest well in the world was finally abandoned, and all lifting mechanisms and structures were dismantled.

A couple of years later, the director of the Kola Geological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences issued a statement that the well was gradually self-destructing. Since that time, there is no official information about her anymore.

Well depth to date

As of today, the Kola well is one of the largest drilling projects in the world. Its official depth reaches 12,262 m.

Sounds of Hell from the Kola Well

Like any grandiose project created by human hands, the Kola well is shrouded in legends and myths.

The Kola well was drilled intermittently from 1970 to 1991

This can be seen both in the Mariana Trench (), which we talked about at the beginning of the article, and in.

They say that at the moment when the workers of the deepest well crossed the line of 12,000 m, they began to hear terrible sounds.

Initially, they did not pay any attention, but over time the situation changed dramatically. With the onset of complete silence, sounds of a different nature were heard from the well.

As a result, the scientists decided to record everything that happened at the bottom of the well on film using heat-resistant microphones.

While listening to the recordings, it was possible to hear human cries and screams.

A couple of hours after studying the film, scientists found traces of a strong explosion, the cause of which they could not explain.

Drilling of the Kola super-deep well was suspended for some time.

When the work resumed, everyone still expected to hear people's wailing, but this time everything was quiet.

Suspecting something was wrong, the management began proceedings regarding the origin of strange sounds. However, the frightened workers did not want to comment on the current situation and in every possible way avoided any questions.

A few years later, when the project was officially put on hold, scientists suggested that the sounds were due to movement.

Some time later, this explanation was rejected as untenable. No other explanation was offered.

Secrets and mysteries of the Kola well

In 1989, the Kola well began to be called the "road to hell", because of the sounds coming from it. There is an opinion that with each next drilled kilometer, on the way to the 13th, one or another cataclysm happened. As a result, the Soviet Union collapsed.

However, the relationship between the drilling of the Kola super-deep well and the collapse of a superpower may be of interest only to those who believe that and others are supernatural "places of power."

There is an opinion that the workers managed to reach a depth of 14.5 km, and it was then that the equipment recorded some underground rooms. The temperature in these rooms exceeded 1000°C.

They also clearly audible and even recorded human cries. However, this whole story is not supported by facts.

Dimensions of the deepest well

The depth of the world's deepest well on the Kola Peninsula is officially registered at around 12,262 m.

The diameter of the upper part is 92 cm, the diameter of the lower part is 21.5 cm.

The maximum temperature did not exceed 220°C. Inexplicable in this whole story are only sounds of unknown origin.

Benefits of drilling the Kola well

Thanks to this project, new drilling methods were achieved, as well as improved equipment.
Geologists have been able to discover new locations of valuable minerals.
It was possible to debunk many different theories, for example, conjectures regarding the basalt layer of our planet.

Worldwide ultra-deep wells

As of today, there are approximately 25 ultra-deep wells, most of which are located in the republics of the former USSR.

Others also have a number of ultra-deep wells. We present the most famous among them.

. Silyan Ring - 6800 m.
. Tasym Southeast - 7050 m.
. Bighorn - 7583 m.
. Zisterdorf - 8553 m.
USA. University - 8686 m.
Germany. KTB-Oberpfalz - 9101 m.
USA. Beidat Unit - 9159 m.
USA. Bertha Rogers - 9583 m.

World records for ultra-deep wells in the world

In 2008, the Maersk oil well (Qatar) with a depth of 12,290 m became the new depth record holder.
In 2011, during a project called "Sakhalin-1" (), it was possible to drill a well up to a mark of 12,345 m.
In 2013, the well of the Chayvinskoye field (Russia) set a new record of 12,700 m. However, it was not drilled vertically down, but at an angle to the surface.

Photo of the Kola well

Looking at the photo of the Kola well, it is hard to imagine that once life was in full swing here, and many people worked for the good of a great country.

Now there is nothing here but garbage and remnants of its former greatness. Reinforced concrete walls and empty, abandoned rooms with randomly scattered things act depressingly. Silence reigns all around.

Drilling rig of the first stage (depth 7600 m), 1974

Electrical substation building

Photo 2012

The wellhead with a metal plug. Someone scratched the wrong depth. August 2012

It is hard to imagine that under this plug there is the deepest “hole” in the earth, extending more than 12 km deep.

Soviet workers on shift change, late 1970s

The stories associated with the Kola well have not subsided so far. At present, scientists have not given a final answer about the origin of mystical sounds.

In this regard, there are more and more new theories trying to explain this phenomenon. Perhaps in the near future, scientists will be able to find out the nature of the "hellish sounds".

Now you know why the Kola well is interesting. If you liked this article, please share it with your friends. If you like it at all - subscribe to the site IinterestingFakty.org in any convenient way. It's always interesting with us!

Liked the post? Press any button.

Penetrating into those secrets that are under our feet is no easier than learning all the secrets of the Universe above our heads. And perhaps even more difficult, because in order to look into the depths of the Earth, a very deep well is needed.

The goals of drilling are different (oil production, for example), but ultra-deep (more than 6 km) wells are primarily needed by scientists who want to know what is interesting inside our planet. Where are such "windows" to the center of the Earth and what is the name of the deepest drilled well, we will tell you in this article. First, just one explanation.

Drilling can be done both vertically downwards and at an angle to the earth's surface. In the second case, the extent can be very large, but the depth, if measured from the mouth (the beginning of the well on the surface) to the deepest point in the bowels, is less than those that run perpendicular.

An example is one of the wells of the Chayvinskoye field, the length of which has reached 12,700 m, but in depth it is significantly inferior to the deepest wells.

This well with a depth of 7520 m is located on the territory of modern Western Ukraine. However, work on it was carried out back in the USSR in 1975-1982.

The purpose of creating this one of the deepest wells in the USSR was the extraction of minerals (oil and gas), but the study of the bowels of the earth was also an important task.

9 En-Yakhinskaya well

Not far from the city of Novy Urengoy in the Yamalo-Nenets district. The purpose of drilling the Earth was to determine the composition of the earth's crust at the drilling site and to determine the profitability of developing large depths for mining.

As is usually the case with ultra-deep wells, the subsoil presented the researchers with many "surprises". For example, at a depth of about 4 km, the temperature reached +125 (higher than the calculated one), and after another 3 km, the temperature was already +210 degrees. Nevertheless, scientists completed their research, and in 2006 the well was liquidated.

8 Saatli in Azerbaijan

In the USSR, one of the deepest wells in the world, Saatli, was drilled on the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan. It was planned to bring its depth to 11 km and conduct various studies related to both the structure of the earth's crust and the development of oil at different depths.

The deepest well in the world

At the end of November 2013, the deepest well in the world is Kola Superdeep Well.

Its depth is 12,262 meters.

Pay attention - there are well parameters - depth and length.

The deepest well in the world from the surface of the Earth

At the moment, there are many longer wells in the world, which will be described below.
However, in terms of depth from the Earth's surface as of November 2013, the Kola Superdeep still holds the record.
Another fact that speaks in favor of the Kola well is that it was not drilled for the purpose of searching for minerals, that is, not for commercial, but for purely scientific purposes.
One of the goals of drilling is to reach the surface of Mohorovich, a section of the earth's crust where the density of matter increases sharply.

What discoveries were made by the Kola superdeep?

Discoveries, in fact, took place every day, there are several discoveries that have changed the way people think about the Earth:

1. The temperature at a depth of 12,000 meters was over 220 degrees Celsius, which turned out to be 100 degrees higher than previously thought.
2. When drilling throughout the well, no basalt rocks were found
3. In the deep layers, which are 2.8 billion years old, traces of organic substances were found, which pushed back the time of the origin of life on Earth to an earlier date.

The longest well in the world from the surface of the Earth

The record for the longest well on the planet belongs to the commercial well of the Sakhalin-1 project.
The drilling rig of the project is considered to be the most powerful in the world today.
Wells in the north of Sakhalin are being drilled for the purpose of exploration of deposits, in particular, to clarify reserves in the oil and gas fields: Chayvo, Odoptu and Arkutun-Dagi
Please note that we are talking about the length of the well, but not about the depth, the well is drilled at an acute angle to the Earth's surface, and the goal of such a well is to go as far as possible from the drilling center, but not to reach the maximum depth.

In 2007, a record was set for the length of a well on Sakhalin-1, at 11,282 meters
In 2008, a well length record was set on Sakhalin-1 at 11,680 meters.
In May 2008, the bull set a record for the longest well in the Al Shaheen oil field in Qatar, with a well drilled 12,289 meters long.
In January 2011, again on Sakhalin-1, a well was drilled 12,345 meters long.
In August 2012, Sakhalin-1 set another well length record of 12,376 meters.
In June 2013, well Z-42 reached a length of 12,700 meters, a deviation from the vertical was 11,739 meters, the drilling accuracy was (deviation from the calculated point) only 4 meters.

Thus, in 2013 the well length record is 12,700 meters (Sakhalin-1), and the depth record is 12,262 meters (Kola Superdeep).

The Kola super-deep well is the deepest borehole in the world (from 1979 to 2008). It is located in the Murmansk region, 10 kilometers west of the city of Zapolyarny, on the territory of the geological Baltic Shield. Its depth is 12,262 meters. Unlike other ultra-deep wells that were made for oil production or exploration, SG-3 was drilled exclusively for the study of the lithosphere in the place where the Mohorovichic boundary is located. (abbreviated Moho boundary) - the lower boundary of the earth's crust, on which there is an abrupt increase in the velocities of longitudinal seismic waves.

The Kola superdeep well was laid in honor of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Lenin, in 1970. The strata of sedimentary rocks by that time were well studied during oil production. It was more interesting to drill where volcanic rocks about 3 billion years old (for comparison: the age of the Earth is estimated at 4.5 billion years) come to the surface. For mining, such rocks are rarely drilled deeper than 1–2 km. It was assumed that already at a depth of 5 km, the granite layer would be replaced by basalt. On June 6, 1979, the well broke the record of 9583 meters, previously owned by the Bert-Rogers well (oil well in Oklahoma). In the best years, 16 research laboratories worked at the Kola superdeep well, they were personally supervised by the Minister of Geology of the USSR.

Although it was expected that a pronounced boundary between granites and basalts would be found, only granites were found in the core throughout the depth. However, due to the high pressure, the pressed granites greatly changed their physical and acoustic properties. As a rule, the raised core fell apart from active gas release into sludge, as it could not withstand a sharp change in pressure. It was possible to extract a solid piece of core only with a very slow rise of the drill string, when the “excess” gas, while still in a state of high pressure, had time to leave the rock. The density of cracks at great depths, contrary to expectations, increased. At depth, water was also present, filling the cracks.

Interestingly, when the International Geological Congress was held in Moscow in 1984, at which the first results of the well research were presented, many scientists jokingly suggested that it be immediately buried, since it destroys all ideas about the structure of the earth's crust. Indeed, oddities began even at the first stages of penetration. So, for example, even before the start of drilling, theorists promised that the temperature of the Baltic Shield would remain relatively low to a depth of at least 5 kilometers, the ambient temperature exceeded 70 degrees Celsius, at seven - over 120 degrees, and at a depth of 12 it was frying stronger than 220 degrees - 100 degrees higher than predicted. The Kola drillers questioned the theory of the layered structure of the earth's crust - at least in the range up to 12,262 meters.

“We have the deepest hole in the world - this is how you should use it!” - bitterly exclaims the permanent director of the research and production center "Kola Superdeep" David Huberman. In the first 30 years of the existence of the Kola Superdeep, Soviet and then Russian scientists broke through to a depth of 12,262 meters. But since 1995, drilling has been stopped: there was no one to finance the project. What is allocated within the framework of UNESCO's scientific programs is only enough to maintain the drilling station in working order and study previously extracted rock samples.

Huberman recalls with regret how many scientific discoveries took place at the Kola Superdeep. Literally every meter was a revelation. The well showed that almost all of our previous knowledge about the structure of the earth's crust is incorrect. It turned out that the Earth is not at all like a layer cake.

Another surprise: life on planet Earth arose, it turns out, 1.5 billion years earlier than expected. At depths where it was believed that there was no organic matter, 14 types of fossilized microorganisms were found - the age of the deep layers exceeded 2.8 billion years. At even greater depths, where there are no longer sedimentary rocks, methane appeared in huge concentrations. This completely and completely destroyed the theory of the biological origin of hydrocarbons such as oil and gas. There were also almost fantastic sensations. When in the late 70s the Soviet automatic space station brought 124 grams of lunar soil to Earth, the researchers of the Kola Science Center found that it was like two drops of water similar to samples from a depth of 3 kilometers. And a hypothesis arose: the moon broke away from the Kola Peninsula. Now they are looking for exactly where. By the way, the Americans, who brought half a ton of soil from the moon, did nothing sensible with it. Placed in sealed containers and left for research to future generations.

Quite unexpectedly for everyone, the predictions of Alexei Tolstoy from the novel "The Hyperboloid of Engineer Garin" were confirmed. At a depth of more than 9.5 kilometers, they discovered a real storehouse of all kinds of minerals, in particular gold. A real olivine layer, brilliantly predicted by the writer. Gold in it is 78 grams per ton. By the way, industrial production is possible at a concentration of 34 grams per ton. But, most surprisingly, at even greater depths, where there are no sedimentary rocks, natural gas methane was found in huge concentrations. This completely and completely destroyed the theory of the biological origin of hydrocarbons such as oil and gas.

Not only scientific sensations were also associated with the Kola well, but also mysterious legends, most of which turned out to be fiction of journalists during verification. According to one of them, the original source of information (1989) was the American television company Trinity Broadcasting Network, which, in turn, took the story from a Finnish newspaper report. Allegedly, while drilling a well, at a depth of 12,000 meters, the scientists' microphones recorded screams and groans.). Journalists, without even thinking that it is simply not possible to stick a microphone to such a depth (what sound recording device can work at temperatures above two hundred degrees?) wrote about the fact that the drillers heard a "voice from the underworld."

After these publications, the Kola super-deep well was called the "road to hell", claiming that each new kilometer drilled brought misfortune to the country. It was said that when the drillers were drilling the thirteenth thousand meters, the USSR collapsed. Well, when the well was drilled to a depth of 14.5 km (which actually did not happen), they suddenly stumbled upon unusual voids. Intrigued by this unexpected discovery, the drillers lowered a microphone capable of operating at extremely high temperatures and other sensors into it. The temperature inside allegedly reached 1,100 ° C - there was the heat of the fiery chambers, in which, allegedly, human screams could be heard.

This legend still roams the vast expanses of the Internet, having survived the very culprit of these gossip - the Kola well. Work on it was stopped back in 1992 due to lack of funding. Until 2008, it was in a mothballed state. And a year later, the final decision was made to abandon the continuation of research and dismantle the entire research complex, and "bury" the well. The final abandonment of the well took place in the summer of 2011.
So, as you can see, this time the scientists were not able to get to the mantle and explore it. However, this does not mean that the Kola well did not give anything to science - on the contrary, it turned all their ideas about the structure of the earth's crust upside down.

RESULTS

The tasks set in the ultra-deep drilling project have been fulfilled. Special equipment and technology for ultra-deep drilling, as well as for the study of wells drilled to a great depth, have been developed and created. We received information, one might say, "first-hand" about the physical condition, properties and composition of rocks in their natural occurrence and from core samples to a depth of 12,262 m. 8 kilometers. Industrial copper-nickel ores were discovered there - a new ore horizon was discovered. And very handy, because the local nickel plant is already running out of ore.

As noted above, the geological forecast of the well section did not come true. The picture that was expected during the first 5 km in the well stretched for 7 km, and then completely unexpected rocks appeared. The basalts predicted at a depth of 7 km were not found, even when they dropped to 12 km. It was expected that the boundary that gives the most reflection in seismic sounding is the level where the granites pass into a more durable basalt layer. In reality, it turned out that less durable and less dense fractured rocks - Archean gneisses - are located there. This was not expected at all. And this is a fundamentally new geological and geophysical information that allows you to interpret the data of deep geophysical surveys in a different way.

The data on the process of ore formation in the deep layers of the earth's crust also turned out to be unexpected and fundamentally new. So, at depths of 9-12 km, highly porous fractured rocks saturated with underground highly mineralized waters were encountered. These waters are one of the sources of ore formation. Previously, it was believed that this was possible only at much shallower depths. It was in this interval that an increased gold content was found in the core - up to 1 g per 1 ton of rock (a concentration that is considered suitable for industrial development). But will it ever be profitable to mine gold from such a depth?

The ideas about the thermal regime of the earth's interior, about the deep distribution of temperatures in the areas of basalt shields, have also changed. At a depth of more than 6 km, a temperature gradient of 20°C per 1 km was obtained instead of the expected (as in the upper part) 16°C per 1 km. It was revealed that half of the heat flux is of radiogenic origin.

The bowels of the earth contain as many mysteries as the vast expanses of the universe. This is exactly what some scientists think, and they are partly right, because people still don’t know exactly what exactly is under our feet deep underground. For the entire time of the existence of earthly civilization, we have been able to go deeper into the planet a little more than 10 kilometers. This record was set back in 1990 and lasted until 2008, after which it was updated several times. In 2008, a deviated oil well, Maersk Oil BD-04A, with a length of 12,290 meters, was drilled (Al-Shaheen oil basin in Qatar). In January 2011, an inclined oil well was drilled at the Odoptu-more field (Sakhalin-1 project) with a depth of 12,345 meters. The record for drilling depth currently belongs to the Z-42 well of the Chayvinskoye field, the depth of which is 12,700 meters.

An attempt to study the geological section and thickness of volcanic rocks emerging on the surface of the earth prompted scientific centers and, like them, research organizations to identify the origin of deep faults. The fact is that structural rock samples, previously extracted from the bowels of the Earth and the Moon, were then of equal interest for study. And the choice of the point of laying the mouth fell on the existing huge bowl-like trough, the origin of which is associated with the presence of a deep fault in the area of the Kola Peninsula.

It was believed that the Earth is a kind of sandwich, consisting of a crust, mantle and core. By this time, sedimentary rocks close to the surface had been sufficiently explored in the development of oil fields. Exploration for non-ferrous metals was rarely accompanied by drilling below the 2000-meter mark.

The Kola SG (superdeep), below a depth of 5000 meters, was supposed to find a section of granite and basalt layers. This did not happen. The drilling projectile pierced hard granite rocks up to the mark of 7000 meters. Further, the sinking went through relatively soft soils, which caused the collapse of the walls of the shaft and the formation of cavities. The crumbling soil jammed the tool head so much that when lifting the pipe string broke off, leading to an accident. The Kola well was supposed to confirm or refute these long-established teachings. In addition, scientists did not dare to indicate the intervals where exactly the boundaries between these three layers pass. The Kola well was intended for exploration and study of deposits of mineral resources, determination of patterns and the gradual formation of fields of occurrence of raw material reserves. The basis was, first of all, the scientific validity of the theory of physical, hydrogeological and other parameters of the Earth's depths. And reliable information about the geological structure of the subsoil could only be provided by ultra-deep sinking of the shaft.

Meanwhile, the long-term preparation for the start of drilling operations provided for: the possibility of an increase in temperature as it deepens, an increase in the hydrostatic pressure of the layers, the unpredictability of the behavior of rocks, their stability due to the presence of rock and reservoir pressures.

From a technical point of view, all possible difficulties and obstacles were taken into account that could lead to a slowdown in the deepening process due to loss of time for tripping the projectile, a decrease in drilling speed due to a change in the category of rocks, and an increase in energy costs for downhole thrusters.
The most difficult factor was considered to be the constant increase in the weight of the casing and drill pipe as it went deeper.

Technical developments in the field of:
- increasing the carrying capacity, power and other characteristics of drilling equipment and equipment;
- thermal stability of the rock cutting tool;
- automation of management of all stages of the drilling process;
- processing of information coming from the bottomhole zone;
- warnings about emergencies with a drill pipe or casing string.

The sinking of an ultra-deep shaft was supposed to reveal the correctness or fallacy of the scientific hypothesis about the deep structure of the planet.

The purpose of this very costly construction was to study:
1. Deep structure of the Pechenga nickel deposit and the crystalline base of the Baltic Shield of the peninsula. Deciphering the contour of the polymetal deposit in Pechenga, coupled with manifestations of ore bodies.
2. The study of the nature and forces that cause the separation of the sheet boundaries of the continental crust. Identification of reservoir zones, motives and nature of high temperature formation. Determination of the physical and chemical composition of water, gases formed in cracks, pores of rocks.
3. Obtaining exhaustive material on the material composition of rocks and information on the intervals between the granite and basalt "gaskets" of the crust. Comprehensive study of the physical and chemical properties of the extracted core.
4. Development of advanced technical means and new technologies for sinking super-deep shafts. Possibility of application of geophysical methods of research in the zone of ore manifestations.
5. Development and creation of the latest equipment for monitoring, testing, research, control of the drilling process.

The Kola well, for the most part, met scientific goals. The task included the study of the most ancient rocks of which the planet is composed and the knowledge of the secrets of the processes occurring in them.

Geological substantiation of drilling on the Kola Peninsula

Exploration and extraction of deposits of useful ores is always predetermined by the drilling of deep wells. And why on the Kola Peninsula and specifically in the Murmansk region, and definitely in Pechenga. The prerequisite for this was the fact that this region was considered a real storehouse of mineral resources, with the richest reserves of a wide variety of ore raw materials (nickel, magnetites, apatites, mica, titanium, copper).

However, the geological calculation, made on the basis of a core from a well, revealed the absurdity of world scientific opinion. The seven-kilometer depth turned out to be composed of volcanic and sedimentary rocks (tuffs, sandstones, dolomites, breccias). Below this interval, as expected, there should have been rocks separating the granitic and basalt structures. But, alas, the basalts never appeared.

In geological terms, the Baltic Shield of the peninsula, with partial coverage of the territories of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Karelia, has been eroded and evolved for millions of centuries. Natural outbursts, destructive processes of volcanism, phenomena of magmatism, metamorphic modifications of rocks, sedimentation were most clearly imprinted on the geological record of Pechenga. This is that part of the Baltic folded shield, where the geological history of stratal and ore manifestations has evolved over billions of years.

Especially, the northern and eastern parts of the shield surface were exposed to centuries-old corrosion. As a result, glaciers, wind, water and other natural disasters, as it were, ripped off (scrapers) the upper layers of rocks.

The choice of the well site was based on the serious erosion of the upper layers and the exposure of the ancient Archean formations of the Earth. These outcrops significantly brought closer and facilitated access to the underground storerooms of nature.

Superdeep well design

Ultra-deep structures have a mandatory telescopic design. In our case, the initial diameter of the mouth was 92 cm, and the final one was 21.5.

The design guide column or the so-called conductor with a diameter of 720 mm provided for penetration to a depth of 39 linear meters. The first technical column (stationary casing), with a diameter of 324 mm and a length of 2000 meters; removable casing 245 mm, with a footage of 8770 meters. Further drilling was planned to be carried out with an open hole to the design mark. Crystalline rocks made it possible to count on the long-term stability of the uncased part of the walls. The second removable column, marked with magnetic marks, would allow for continuous core sampling along the entire length of the wellbore. Radioactive markers on the downhole pipe were tuned to record the temperature of the drilling environment.

Technical equipment of a drilling rig for drilling an ultra-deep well

Drilling from scratch was carried out by the Uralmash-4E installation, that is, serial equipment used for drilling deep oil and gas wells. Up to 2000 meters, the shaft was drilled with steel drill pipes, with a turbodrill at the end. This turbine, 46 meters long with a chisel at the end, was set in rotation under the action of a clay solution, which was pumped into the pipe at a pressure of 40 atmospheres.

Further, the sinking was carried out from an interval of 7264 meters by the domestic installation "Uralmash-15000", from an innovative point of view, a more powerful structure with a load capacity of 400 tons. The complex was equipped with many technical, technological, electronic and other advanced developments.

The Kola well was equipped with a high-tech and automated structure:
1. Exploration, with a powerful base on which the sectional tower itself is mounted, 68 meters high. Designed to implement:

sinking of the barrel, operations of descent - lifting of the projectile and other auxiliary actions;
retention of the leading and the entire pipe string, both on weight and during drilling;
placement of sections (stands) of drill pipes, including collars, traveling system.

In the inner space of the tower, there were also means of the joint venture (descent - ascent), tools. It also housed the means of security and possible emergency evacuation of the rider (assistant driller).

2. Power and technological equipment, power and pump units.

3. Circulation and blowout control system, cementing equipment.

4. Automation, control, process control system.

5. Electrical supply, means of mechanization.

6. A complex of measuring equipment, laboratory equipment and much more.

In 2008, the Kola super-deep well was completely abandoned, all valuable equipment was dismantled and removed (most of it was sold for scrap).

Until 2012, the main tower of the drilling rig was dismantled.

Now only the Kola Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences is operating, which to this day is studying core extracted from an ultra-deep well.

The core itself was taken out to the city of Yaroslavl, where it is now stored.

Documentary video about the Kola Superdeep Well

New ultra-deep well records

The Kola superdeep well was considered the deepest well in the world until 2008.

In 2008, the Maersk Oil BD-04A oil well, which is 12,290 meters long, was drilled at an acute angle in the Al Shaheen oil basin.

In January 2011, this record was broken, and it was broken by an oil well drilled in the Northern Dome (Odoptu-Sea - an oil and gas field in Russia), this well was also drilled at an acute angle to the earth's surface, the length was 12,345 meters.

In June 2013, the Z-42 well of the Chayvinskoye field again broke the depth record with a length of 12,700 meters.