As you dig earth, the pressure from layers above increases, making it difficult to keep the hole stable.
For stability, the hole's walls need to be sloped and wider than its depth.
The Bingham Canyon Mine in Utah is the deepest open-pit mine (1.2 km deep, 4 km wide).
Digging a hole all the way through Earth is theoretically impossible.
To prevent collapse, the hole would need to be three times wider than the Earth’s diameter.
Drilling is faster than digging, as less material is moved and smaller holes can withstand more force.
The Kola Superdeep Borehole (12.2 km deep), Russia, is the deepest drilled hole but faced technical challenges.
Drilling through the mantle and core is impractical due to extreme pressure, temperature, and equipment limitations.
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