German Continental Deep Drilling Program

The German Continental Deep Drilling Program (in German Kontinentales Tiefbohrprogramm der Bundesrepublik Deutschland), abbreviated as the KTB borehole, was a scientific drilling project from 1987 to 1995 near Windischeschenbach, Bavaria. The main superdeep borehole reached a depth of 9,101 meters into the Earth's continental crust.
The project was funded by the German Federal Ministry of Research with 528 million DM (270 million Euro). The project lead was taken over by the LBEG mining office (Landesamt für Bergbau, Energie und Geologie). After the drilling project had ended the borehole was reused by the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences for installation of a seismic observatory at depth (Tiefenobservatorium) that was active from 1996 to 2001. The derrick - one of the largest in the world - is now used as touristic attraction in the region. The two boreholes continue to be open for further scientific usage.
History
The site...