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The present invention uses the basic apparatus and method disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,357,505 and in Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory of the University of California Report No. LA-3243 (1965) entitled Rock Melting as a Drilling Technique." The rock-melting drill so disclosed is effective in penetrating basalt and other igneous rocks at usefully high rates and with moderate power consumption. For example, igneous rocks melt at about I,200C and in being heated from ambient temperature such as C to just above their melting ranges require about 4,300 joules of energy per cubic centimeter compared with the energy requirement of 2,000 to 3,000 joules per cubic centimeter for rotary drilling in igneous rocks.
originally posted by: Outrageo
If you really want to get your creative juices flowing, along with your own 'excavated material', you may want to check out the Area51 "Burial Grounds": Use Google Earth and turn on the "History Slider" at 36 51.559N x 115 57.349W. Literally thousands upon thousands of large shipping containers and other 'stuff' has been buried here for decades.