Kate Powell

Period 6

11/18/13

Journey to the center of the earth

Remember when you were about 5 or so years old, and you found a shovel in your parent's garage, crawlspace, or wherever they kept their tools? Do you remember how you tried to dig to China, because that was the coolest thing ever? And, how, when that didn't pan out, your mom told you that you can't dig through the Earth, because "it's full of lava"? Of course you do, every red blooded American does. You also remember how you swore to "dig around the center", and how your mother just rolled her eyes and smiled a little smile at you, and how after a week it was forgotten. Well, until I brought it up that is.

And even now, I see you making the same little smile at your ridiculous childhood ideas, maybe remembering your own child doing the same?

Well, stop that. Because you were right, and Mrs. Your-Mother was wrong.

Years of prep work had gone into that expedition. After all, it's not easy to dig through the Earth. My life as well as Dr. Pierce's had been dedicated to the idea that you COULD drill from one side of the Earth to another. Blueprints were made; plans were crumpled up and thrown into the trashcan so many times that a career with the Nuggets was not out of the question. Finally, after so much disappointment and heartache, a viable plan was made. The equipment was ready, the numbers checked out, and we were scheduled to depart on March 25th, T- 2 weeks.

"WE ALL LIVE IN A YELLOW SUBMARINE, A YELLOW SUBMARINE, A YELLOW SUBMARINE!" My partner bellowed into my ear as we drove to the launch site.

Yes, we were taking a yellow submarine… with a yellow drill on top.

The coastline was coming into view as he finally reached the end of the song. I jumped out as Pierce navigated the pickup to the surf and the interns pushed the "Beatle-Mobile" into the water.

After everyone and everything was loaded, it was off into the Pacific Ocean. We dived closer and closer to the ocean floor, until we were 300 miles out and ready to begin drilling. The drill caused sand to fly up, blinding our view from the windows. Pierce put the submarine on auto-pilot (auto-drill? Whatever, it's my submarine I'm calling it auto-pilot) and we tucked into bed. Well, everyone else tucked in; because I had to stay up for the ½ hour it would take to drill through the 5 mile oceanic crust. When we hit the Lithosphere, we'd have to be ready for the inevitable earthquakes that occur when you drill through the Earth's plates.

"What the Helsinki is going on!?" I heard someone yell from the sleeping quarters, that someone being Pierce.

The Beatle-Mobile was shaking and beeping, as the Anser-Pullus-Miles Temperature Regulator kicked in.

I reminded him of the whole earthquake thing as I put on a pot of coffee. It would take 2 ½- 6 ½ hours to go through the 65 miles of Lithosphere, as the shaking made our speed fluctuate. It would be a long night for all.

At 0800 hours we entered the Asthenosphere. While the magma outside our window was beautiful and amazing, the Anser-Pullus-Miles could only contain so much heat. That means, our submarine was a whopping 102⁰, which had the crew sweating and swearing. Since the Beatle-Mobile could go 45mph through the putty-like magma, it only took 2 ½ hours, bringing us to 10:30 in the morning. In a yellow submarine, full of tired cranky scientists.

By lunchtime we were 2 hours into a 27 hour, 45 minute journey through the lower mantle's 416 miles of rock. We were also out of ice, and the salt filter takes quite a bit of time to clean and freeze the water collected from the first legs of our journey. The popsicles were gone too, so the entire crew's lunch consisted of chilled coffee. It was just TOO HOT for anyone to eat. Well, almost anyone.

"You should really try this egg salad!" I turned away from Pierce to preserve my stomach. The LAST THING we need is for the Beatle-Mobile to smell like puke as well as hot egg salad sandwich.

It has been 25 hours, 45 minutes since my last entry, and we are beginning to swim through the Outer Core's swirling metal. 1,408 miles, taking 31 and a half hours. Interns have begun to mutiny, wanting to turn back. I can't blame them, I want to turn back, and I'm getting paid! But we cannot give up. Can you imagine the scientific community's reaction to a trip through the Earth? This could become a viable option for travel! Drill out and pave some tunnels and it'd be like a subway!

Since we have another… 31 hours, 25 minutes, allow me to explain the complexities of such a journey.

The Beatle-Mobile runs on diesel, just like any other non-nuclear submarine. The trick is the drill. The drill is really a large, hollow tube with many blades, treated for the hot temperatures. The tube spins, cutting through the rock within the tube and outside of it. Inside of the tube are large metal teeth that take the material, restore it as well as it can be, and push it out the other end to help prevent, oh you know, cutting the world in half or anything. The Anser-Pullus-Miles is our temperature regulator. Temperatures in the Lithosphere alone climb 35⁰ for each 1,000 meters traveled, meaning by the time we reach the Asthenosphere, temperatures are up to 1,300⁰ minimum. The Anser-Pullus-Miles keeps the temperature no higher than 102⁰. While it may be uncomfortable, but that's why we have had- the ice and popsicles. If we didn't have the Anser-Pullus-Miles, the sub would be hot enough to cook frozen fish sticks in a matter of seconds. Aaaaaaaaaaaaand us too. A large amount of this heat is changed into thermal energy, to run our electricity within the cabin. Our oxygen is provided by an oxygen canister that takes up a good ¼ of the submarine. This is connected to a large rebreather, not unlike that used for scuba diving. We have food stocked in our not-so-mini fridge, along with bottles of Gatorade and icepacks, just in case.

"I'll be home for Christmas, you can count on me. I'll be home for Christmas, if only in my dreams!"

Pierce really is a genius you know. NO, REALLY! NO SARCASM OR ANYTHING! That's why, as annoying as he is, I choose to work with him. Think about how smart he has to be if it makes up for everything I've told you and all that I haven't. Yeah, he's that good.

Anyway, the reason he's singing (though he never needs one) is that we have reached the halfway point of our journey. We began drilling through the inner core (at the WHOPPING speed of 5mph, which made the trip take that much longer [150 hours to be exact]), and are approximately halfway through.

"We're halfway there, looking back now, I never thought that I'd ever say we're—"

A loud groaning noise cut off Pierce's song, and the submarine came to a stop. I shot off my spot on the couch and ran over to the console, my partner right beside me.

"We must've lost diesel power, but how? WHAT is going on?" Pierce rhetorically asked, but I shrugged anyway.

The windows went dark, and the Beatle-Mobile felt like a coffin. In my panic I ran through the obvious.

"This is impossible! We have enough diesel for 2 complete trips; we're not even halfway through one! We have enough oxygen for 2 trips but if we're immobile that won't be enough. Ohmigawd what if we're stuck down here? We're going to die. WE ARE GOING TO "

One of the interns cut off my panic with a slap, and my objectivity came rushing back. That is, until the sub started shaking.

The Beatle-Mobile began groaning again, and the drill sensor flashed a warning that the gears were about to snap. It was quickly turned off, but SOMETHING was stopping it. This entire scene just needed the red emergency lights to come on. Thankfully, we wouldn't be running out of thermal power that ran them any time soon.

The window at the front of the sub suddenly lit up with blazing yellow light, and a large CRACK sounded out. The shutters returned, now with a vengeance that knocked the entire crew off their feet. I pulled down the sunglass from the top of the window, and began hallucinating.

"Do… do you see a large neon yellow turtle with a Fu Manchu?" Pierce asked from my side. I nodded slowly, utterly speechless.

The turtle's golden eyes blinked, as if adjusting to the darkness that his glow didn't illuminate.

"WATCHA THINK YA'LL BE DOIN' IN MA HEARE HOUSE? YA KILLED IT DEAD! DO YA'LL HOOLIGANS HAVE ANY COMPREHENSION OF HOW LONG IT TAKES TO MAKE A 750 MILE WIDE BALL OF IRON! WHAT IN TARNATION IS THE MATTER WITH YEH? WERE YOU KICKED IN THE HEAD BAH A HOURSE OR SUMIN AS A YUNGIN'! I AM 7,888 YEARS OLD AND I HAVE NEVER SEEN SUCH NONSENSE! I'm getting too old for this I tell you… HOW WOULD YOU LIKE IT IF I JUST WALKED OUT OF MAH PART OF THE EARTH ONTO YOUR "CRUST" AND STARTED STICKIN MAH NOSE WHERE IT DIDN'T HAVE NO BUSINESS BELONGIN! DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT WOULD DO? THAT WOULD KILL ALL OF YA'LL AND YOU KNOW WHAT I'D BE DOIN'! I'D BE LAUGHIN MAH HIDE OFF FASTER THAN A KNIFE FIGHT IN A PHONEBOOTH! ACT LIKE YOU GOT SOME RAISING YOU EGG SUCKIN' DAWG! IF ANY OF YEH SURFACERS MESS UP ANAHTHANG IN MA PART OF THE WORLD, I'MA LEAVE AND IT'LL BE YOU'RE JOB TO EXPLAIN TO JESUS HOW YOU KILLED THE ENTIRE HUMAN RACE!"

Needless to say, we backed up, scrapped the Beatle-Mobile and never told ANYONE that it was possible to drill through the Earth.