Chapter 7 – Mind Stretcher of the Century: Project Mohole

Publisher Summary This chapter offers information on “Project Mohole,” and its phases. Project Mohole was a U.S. government-sponsored effort in the late 1950s and early 1960s to drill down to the earth's lower crust and upper mantle to learn more about the interior composition and geologic history of the planet. Mohole produced technological and scientific innovations vital to the offshore industry and to the nation as a whole. “Mohole” was coined to describe a hole drilled beyond the Moho (Mohorovcic Seismic Discontinuity). The primary objective of Project Mohole was removing samples of the upper mantle. Project Mohole was planned as a $50 million, five-year program and organized into three phases. The first phase called for a test drilling program and a search for possible drilling sites. The second phase involved constructing the drilling platform and the drilling itself. The third phase would carry out studies on the samples of crust and mantle. Phase I of Project Mohole lasted from 1958 to 1961. The NSF (National Academy of Sciences) chose Brown & Root as prime contractor for Phase II of Project Mohole, which was announced officially on June 20, 1962.. Scientific debates, budgetary dilemmas, and the Vietnam War ultimately brought down Project Mohole. Congress shifted funding priorities during the escalation of the war, canceling projects that might be "expendable." Project Mohole also lost one of its most valued supporters when Albert Thomas, chairman of the House Independent Offices Appropriations Subcommittee, died in early 1966. Representative Joe L. Evins (D-TN), who succeeded Thomas, attacked Mohole as a scientific boondoggle. The NSF continued to support Project Mohole as a major scientific project, but Representative Evins's first major decision as chairman was to kill it. Project Mohole enhanced Brown & Root's capabilities in offshore engineering and design, as well as the entire industry's.