Why do scientists drill the ground beneath our feet?

Book excerpt: Drilling a hole into the crust of our planet can help scientists unravel some of the many secrets that otherwise would remain hidden in its interior. Burning questions related to global climate change, evolution of ecosystems and species, including our own, the dangers posed by volcanoes and seismically active zones, and the sustainable extraction of heat and raw materials, demands answers that scientists can provide only using insights from scientific drilling. For most people, drilling into the Earth means laying the foundation for extracting natural resources from under our feet. Recent discussions about new drilling-related technologies such as exploitation of unconventional gas resources, carbon capture and storage and geothermal energy brought deep drilling into the focus of public’s attention. With this collection we want to point out that drilling also serves other scientific goals, of high social relevance to face global environmental, climate and economic crises. With this volume we celebrate the 25+ anniversary of the community under the leadership of the International Continental Scientific Drilling Program ICDP.