The Center of the Earth

1. How deep is the deepest mine in the world?

• One of the deepest mines in the world is the TauTona gold mine in South Africa, a mere 3.6 kilometers deep.

2. How deep would you have to dig to reach the mantle?

• You need to dig through 6,378 km of rock, mantle, and iron to reach the center.
  

3. Let's pretend that you and your friends tried to dig a hole in your backyard to find a shortcut to China. The thing is, you guys had special suits that could withstand extreme temperatures, so you would not die. If you were somehow able to reach the mantle, what would it look like? What kinds of things would you see? How about the outer core? Inner core? What would it look like as you approached the surface (the crust) on the other side?

• I believe the mantle would look like a large amount of dirt, and I would see lots of rock...and more rock...and magma. The crust on the other side would be hard yet thin.