Conrad Discontinuity
As a result of the Russian project, a wealth of new geological information was gathered, advancing our understanding of our planet. Many geological hypotheses were verified or disproved thanks to the Kola superdeep borehole’s direct view of the crust. According to the “Conrad discontinuity” theory, a change from granite to basalt should occur somewhere between 3 and 6 kilometers below the earth’s surface. The results of the Kola Superdeep Borehole would prove that this is not the case.
Conrad Discontinuity
Granite Only
Seismic wave analysis led to the development of the Conrad discontinuity theory. This is how scientists have conceptualized the Earth’s crust for some time now, with progressively younger layers of rock (basalt beneath the older granite). This, however, was disproved by the Kola Superdeep Borehole. At the very bottom of the borehole, scientists discovered only granite. This indicated that the metamorphic differences in the rock, and not a change to basalt, were responsible for the variations in the seismic waves.
Granite Only
