China's Deep Drilling Ambitions: Exploring the Earth's Depths.

China has begun drilling its first borehole to tunnel 10,000 meters beneath the Earth's crust in the Taklamakan Desert, part of the resource-rich Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. The project will use equipment weighing 2,000 metric tons to break through 10 layers of continental strata and eventually burrow into the Cretaceous System, a stratified layer of rock that dates back to 145 million years ago. The drilling is part of China's national security strategy to source raw materials and energy domestically and equip the country with a better understanding of seismic activity and natural disaster risks.