en.Wedoany.com Reported - On May 30, the innovation team of the International Continental Scientific Drilling Project in the Songliao Basin was awarded the fourth "National Innovation Pioneer Medal." The project reached a total drilling depth of 7,018 meters, making it the deepest Cretaceous continental scientific drilling well globally, setting three world records since the establishment of the International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (ICDP): the deepest borehole (7,018 meters), the longest continuous coring (8,186.96 meters), and an ultra-high core recovery rate (over 96%). Led by the China Geological Survey, the project involved over 40 institutions and more than 1,000 researchers over nearly 20 years, aiming to obtain continuous Cretaceous continental geological records to provide deep-time evidence for global paleoclimate research.
The International Continental Scientific Drilling Project in the Songliao Basin is a flagship ICDP initiative. The Cretaceous period (145 million to 66 million years ago) represents a typical "greenhouse climate" on Earth, and studying its climate evolution is scientifically valuable for predicting future global warming. Early global efforts lacked high-resolution, continuous, and complete Cretaceous continental geological records. The Chinese team began preliminary research in the late 1990s, completing Well Songke-1 (depth 2,485.89 meters) in 2006, which initially established a framework for continental sedimentary sequences. In April 2014, Well Songke-2 officially commenced drilling, using the "Crust No. 1" rig developed under China's "Deep Earth" project (SinoProbe), ultimately reaching a depth of 7,018 meters.
The project faced world-class challenges, including ultra-high temperatures (241°C measured at the well bottom) and continuous coring in ultra-deep hard rock. The Institute of Exploration Techniques, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, and other units independently developed a deep-well hard rock coring technology system centered on large-diameter diamond drilling, overcoming key technical bottlenecks such as core preservation under high temperature and pressure and long-section open-hole wall stability. The team established a comprehensive methodology covering drilling site selection, core acquisition and processing, high-precision physical measurements, and age calibration, creating the world's most continuous and complete Cretaceous continental geological section. Recognized by the ICDP as a "lighthouse" project, the results were published in journals such as Nature and Science and exhibited at the Museum of the Communist Party of China and the National Museum of China.
The innovation team brought together institutions including the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, the China Geological Survey, and the Institute of Exploration Techniques, led by Academician Wang Chengshan and Researcher Lyu Qingtian. The team has published over 800 papers, obtained 51 invention patents, and cultivated four academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Engineering, as well as 15 national-level high-level talents. This achievement has propelled China into a leading global position in continental scientific drilling, providing a complete technical system and stratigraphic correlation standards for global deep geological research, while also offering practical support for deep resource exploration and climate change studies.
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