Borehole

File:AlburyBoreHole.jpg

A water borehole into the chalk aquifer under the North Downs, England at Albury

A borehole is the generalized term for any narrow shaft bored in the ground, either vertically or horizontally. A borehole may be constructed for many different purposes, including the extraction of water or other liquid (such as petroleum) or gases (such as natural gas), as part of a geotechnical investigation, environmental site assessment, mineral exploration, temperature measurement or as a pilot hole for installing piers or underground utilities. Boreholes used as water wells are described in more depth in that article.

In the engineering and environmental consulting fields, the term is used to collectively describe all of the various types of holes drilled as part of a geotechnical investigation or environmental site assessment (a so-called Phase II ESA). This includes holes advanced to collect soil samples, water samples or rock cores, to advance in situ sampling equipment, or to install monitoring wells or piezometers. Samples collected from boreholes are often tested in a laboratory to determine their physical properties, or to assess levels of various chemical constituents or contaminants.

Typically, a borehole used as a well is completed by installing a vertical pipe (casing) and well screen to keep the borehole from caving. This also helps prevent surface contaminants from entering the borehole and protects any installed pump from drawing in sand and sediment. When completed in this manner the borehole is then more commonly called a well: whether it is a water well, oil well or natural gas extraction well.

The world’s deepest borehole is the Odoptu OP-11 well on Sakhalin which reached a measured total depth of 12,345 m (40,502 ft) and a horizontal displacement of 11,475 m (37,648 ft). Exxon Neftegas Limited completed the well in 60 days.

As detailed in proxy (climate), borehole temperature measurements at a series of different depths can be effectively "inverted" (a mathematical formula to solve a matrix equation) to help estimate historic surface temperatures.

Boreholes may be drilled using a drilling rig, or by a hand-operated rig. The machinery and technique to advance a borehole varies considerably according to manufacturer, geological conditions, and the intended purpose.

See also

• Deep borehole disposal
• Drilling rig
• Hole opener
• Vertical seismic profile

External links

• Borehole Monitoring

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