Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
Mohole Project Records
SAC 0011
View entire collection guide
Search this collection
Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla 92093-0175
Title: Mohole Project Records
Creator:
Project Mohole
Identifier/Call Number: SAC 0011
Physical Description:
11.6 Linear feet
(29 archives boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1943, 1958-1967
Abstract: Project Mohole (1958-1967) was a multi-institutional federally funded science program to retrieve a sample of the Earth's
mantle layer by drilling through the crust layer in the deep ocean. This collection documents its committee support, technical
progress, and contributions to oceanography and ocean drilling.
Languages:
English
.
Scope and Content of Collection
This collection documents the operations of Project Mohole from its inception in 1958 to its termination in 1967. The majority
of the collection consists of progress reports to the NSF from the primary contractor Brown & Root with updates on technological
developments in areas of drilling, naval architecture, logistics, geology, seismology, bathymetry, instrumentation design,
site survey, and land- and sea-based experimental drill holes. A master index exists for navigating these Progress and Technical
Reports.
The remaining collection consists of administrative materials discussing AMSOC's inception of the Mohole project, early planning
meetings, the process of site selection, contractor selection, discussion on the nature of and need for an "intermediate"
stage, the evolving duties of AMSOC, LOCO, and CORE in Mohole activities, and congressional inquiry into Mohole spending.
Committee scientists also kept extensive research files on contemporary Soviet drilling projects. The collection contains
two artificial files by SIO archivists on project chronologies and bibliographies, consisting of selected AMSOC memoranda,
correspondence, and documents, including a 1943 proposal "Core Drilling Under the Oceans" from Thomas Jaggar to the International
Union for Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG).
The collection is arranged into five series: 1) COMMITTEES, 2) CORRESPONDENCE, 3) CONTRACTORS, 4) RESEARCH FILES, 5) PRESS
COVERAGE.
Project Mohole was a multi-institutional federally funded science program to retrieve a sample of the Earth's mantle layer
by drilling through the crust layer in the deep ocean. The project began under the leadership of the American Miscellaneous
Society (AMSOC), an informal group formed at the Office of Naval Research in 1952, with Walter Munk and Roger Revelle of Scripps
Institute of Oceanography (SIO) among the members. In 1958, AMSOC received approval and funds from the National Science Foundation
(NSF) to begin experimental ocean drilling. At this time AMSOC began functioning as an official unit of the National Research
Council (NRC) of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS).
The project was planned for three phases: experimental drilling and technical feasibility, intermediate vessel construction
and site selection, and final Mohole drilling. The first phase was completed in 1961, after a drilling a shallow experimental
hole offshore of Guadalupe Island, Mexico.
With the success of the first phase, AMOSC relinquished direction of the project to the NSF, who sought proposals for a primary
contractor from oceanographic institutions, construction companies, and oil and gas drilling companies. In 1962 they selected
Brown & Root, a construction company based out of Houston, Texas, and subsidiary of Halliburton Co., as primary contractor
in charge of all aspects of the project. AMSOC officially dissolved in 1964, but members continued to unofficially advise
Brown & Root under the AMSOC title and through two subsequent committees, the Long Core Committee (LOCO) and the Consortium
for Oceanic Research and Exploration (CORE).
Under the direction of Brown & Root, the project progressed into phase two, but faced technical, financial, and managerial
problems. Brown & Root hired numerous subcontractors to develop the technologies needed for deep sea drilling and core retrieval,
at times at odds with NSF and committee recommendations. A significant point of contention revolved around the need for "intermediate"
stage drilling, with Brown & Root preferring to begin drilling the Mohole as soon as possible while the scientists advised
the need for more shallow trials in geologically different sites. Sites considered for drilling included areas around Hawai'i,
Puerto Rico, Brazil, and the North Atlantic Ocean. In 1965 the project officially selected the area off the north shore of
Maui as the Mohole site.
In 1963 the US Congress began to question the use of funds by NSF for project Mohole, and in 1966 they terminated the project.
Following the termination of Mohole, many scientists and materials were transferred to the related Deep Sea Drilling Project
(DSDP) or Joint Oceanographic Institutions for Deep Earth Sampling (JOIDES) program.
Mohole Project Records. SAC 11. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego Library.
Acquired 1981, 1991
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE. ALLOW ONE WEEK FOR RETRIEVAL OF MATERIALS.
Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.
To view the 1961 film "Experimental deep water drilling: Project Mohole," see the UC San Diego Library Digital Collections
(
available online ).
For additional material at UC San Diego related to ocean drilling, see the Deep Sea Drilling Project Records, SAC 12. Special
Collections & Archives, UC San Diego Library.
In 1978, SIO Archivist Elizabeth (Betty) Shor gathered items for a collection of documents related to the Mohole Project from
the offices of project members George Shor, Russell Raitt, William Benson, and others. This material was officially accessioned
into the SIO Archives in 1981 and represents the participation of SIO scientists in the Mohole Project. In 1991, an additional
accession of Brown & Root and subcontractor reports were added from the SIO Library. These materials were processed together
and represented in one finding aid in 2024.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Underwater drilling
Project Mohole -- Archives