Known as the Nankai Trough, the 500 mile long boundary between a pair of tectonic plates off the southwestern coast of Japan is now the focus of intense scientific attention.
the Nankai Trough has produced tsunami after tsunami
scientists involved in the Nankai Trough Seismogenic Zone Experiment hope to find out just what makes it work
Answers are likely to filter in over the next four years, as scientists
drill some 20,000 feet in to the rock below the surface of the sea.
They will then drop seismometers and other varying instruments in to
the holes that will allow them to monitor the fault in real time.
The drilling process begins with the Chikyu lowering a 20-inch wide,
1,000-foot tall segmented pipe over the drilling target. The ship will
then drop a 12-inch wide drill bit down through the pipe, while
simultaneously fluid will be pumped through the pipe to help with
friction. The fluid will also carry any rock and debris that is churned
up in the drilling process to the surface.
clipped from: viewer.zoho.com 
