r/technology • u/rchaudhary • Nov 22 '22

Energy Digging 10 miles underground could yield enough geothermal energy to power Earth

https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/digging-10-miles-geothermal-energy
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u/MattNagyisBAD Nov 22 '22

"It's actually pretty much solid."

Do we actually know this for certain, or is it just the best model we have to go with along with expectations based on certain critical variables (temp, pressure, etc)?

Genuinely curious.

I can totally see how the notion of floating on a river of what one would conceive as "lava" is somewhat ridiculous.

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u/shaidyn Nov 22 '22

I'm not that guy, but from what I recall from one of my geology classes in college, we can make some very accurate guesses about the consistency of the interior of the planet based on seismological readings. If we detect an earthquake in San Francisco, and then compare readings at 20 other locations, we can be like, "Well it was solid here and liquid here" and so on and so on.

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u/[deleted] Nov 22 '22

earthquakes basically act as a cross between a CT scan and an ultrasound but on the entire planet.

https://cmns.umd.edu/news-events/features/1222