The Mohole Mystery
Encyclopedia
The Mohole Mystery is a juvenile science fiction
novel
, the eleventh in Hugh Walters
' Chris Godfrey of U.N.E.X.A. series. It was published in the UK by Faber
in 1968, in the US by Criterion Books in 1969 under the title The Mohole Menace. It was also published in French
as Pionniers des ténèbres, (literally "Pioneers of Darkness") by Éditions de l'Amitié in 1973 and as A ameaça de Mohole in Portugese
by Edições Dêagã.
in the West Midlands
region of the United Kingdom
hits a cavern 20 miles beneath the surface of the Earth and detects strange microbes. UNEXA send Russian Serge Smylov down to search for other forms of life in a rocket-propelled capsule but it is damaged when it hits the bottom of the cavern. Then strange creatures start attacking him...
The book, under its US title The Mohole Menace, is mentioned in A Short History of Nearly Everything
by Bill Bryson
.
was an American project to sink a bore-hole through 5000 metres of the Earth's crust
into the Mohorovičić discontinuity
or "Moho". The project came to be called the "No Hole", and was discontinued by the US Congress in 1966 due to ever-rising costs and the fact that they had only managed to drill to a depth of 180 metres.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
, the eleventh in Hugh Walters
Hugh Walters (author)
Hugh Walters was a writer of juvenile Science Fiction novels from Bradley in the West Midlands region of the United Kingdom.-Biography:...
' Chris Godfrey of U.N.E.X.A. series. It was published in the UK by Faber
Faber and Faber
Faber and Faber Limited, often abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in the UK, notable in particular for publishing a great deal of poetry and for its former editor T. S. Eliot. Faber has a rich tradition of publishing a wide range of fiction, non fiction, drama, film and music...
in 1968, in the US by Criterion Books in 1969 under the title The Mohole Menace. It was also published in French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
as Pionniers des ténèbres, (literally "Pioneers of Darkness") by Éditions de l'Amitié in 1973 and as A ameaça de Mohole in Portugese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
by Edições Dêagã.
Plot summary
A drilling project in DudleyDudley
Dudley is a large town in the West Midlands county of England. At the 2001 census , the Dudley Urban Sub Area had a population of 194,919, making it the 26th largest settlement in England, the second largest town in the United Kingdom behind Reading, and the largest settlement in the UK without...
in the West Midlands
West Midlands (county)
The West Midlands is a metropolitan county in western central England with a 2009 estimated population of 2,638,700. It came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972, formed from parts of Staffordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire. The...
region of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
hits a cavern 20 miles beneath the surface of the Earth and detects strange microbes. UNEXA send Russian Serge Smylov down to search for other forms of life in a rocket-propelled capsule but it is damaged when it hits the bottom of the cavern. Then strange creatures start attacking him...
The book, under its US title The Mohole Menace, is mentioned in A Short History of Nearly Everything
A Short History of Nearly Everything
A Short History of Nearly Everything is a popular science book by American author Bill Bryson that explains some areas of science, using a style of language which aims to be more accessible to the general public than many other books dedicated to the subject...
by Bill Bryson
Bill Bryson
William McGuire "Bill" Bryson, OBE, is a best-selling American author of humorous books on travel, as well as books on the English language and on science. Born an American, he was a resident of Britain for most of his adult life before moving back to the US in 1995...
.
Project Mohole
The real Project MoholeProject Mohole
Project Mohole was an ambitious attempt to drill through the Earth's crust into the Mohorovičić discontinuity, and to provide an Earth science complement to the high profile Space Race. The project was initially led by the American Miscellaneous Society with funding from the National Science...
was an American project to sink a bore-hole through 5000 metres of the Earth's crust
Crust
Crust may refer to:* Crust * The Crust, television seriesPhysical sciences:* Crust , at least continent-wide structure* Soil crust, local biology-sensitive structureFood:* Crust, dense surface layer of bread...
into the Mohorovičić discontinuity
Mohorovičić discontinuity
The Mohorovičić discontinuity , usually referred to as the Moho, is the boundary between the Earth's crust and the mantle. Named after the pioneering Croatian seismologist Andrija Mohorovičić, the Moho separates both the oceanic crust and continental crust from underlying mantle...
or "Moho". The project came to be called the "No Hole", and was discontinued by the US Congress in 1966 due to ever-rising costs and the fact that they had only managed to drill to a depth of 180 metres.