Produced in association with Educational Testing Service Princeton, NJ with the assistance of the National Science Foundation Washington, DC, “Project ‘Mohole’: Report Number One” is a 1960s-era educational documentary film detailing an oceanographic survey conducted in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Puerto Rico. Narrated by Dr. Donald D. Hornig Chairman, Department of Chemistry Princeton, the film, which was part of a larger series called Horizon of Science, details as a team from Columbia University’s Lamont Geological Observatory work on board R/V Vema to test for an optimal drill site for Project Mohole. The research study is carried out with three other ships from other institutions such as R/V Bear, R/V Hidalgo, and USNS Josiah Willard Gibbs (T-AGOR-1).

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 (AMSOC) with funding from the National Science Foundation.

Film begins, opening credits (0:06). Dr. Donald D. Hornig speaks to camera, introduces segment (0:31). Using oil drilling technology to drill into earth’s crust: Shots of CUSS 1 oil drill ship and oil rig drilling in shallow waters of Pacific Ocean off California; Drill teams probing for oil (1:07). Research teams conduct oceanographic surveys to help find ideal drill spot in Pacific and Atlantic Ocean (2:39). Illustrated map showing waters off coast of Puerto Rico (2:47). Illustrated diagram showing layers of earth’s crust under island of Puerto Rico (3:00). Lamont’s RV Vema research vessel sails along blue water’s off of Puerto Rican trench; Crew consists of members of Lamont Geological Observatory researchers (3:34). Crew member reads precision depth recordings on precision depth recorder machine aboard ship (4:16). Sails come down, crews ready ship for coring operation; Pipe lowered into water and lead weight/ triggering mechanism readied; Pipe plunges into sea (5:22). Reading of echo sounder showing pipe diving through ocean (6:40). Crew waiting two hours for pipe to reach ocean floor; Gather around tension indicator so they know when the pipe hits (7:04). Coring pipe reaches the surface after piercing through ocean floor and gathering sample; Lead weight removed and pipe hoisted back into position on side of ship (7:41). Close-up shot of core sample inside pipe (8:25). Core extruded from pipe; Dr. Charles Drake examines the core by scraping off small samples and makes preliminary inspection of contents (8:35). Close-up samples on Dr. Drake’s forearm, tests samples between his teeth (9:38). In Lamont Laboratories, tubular sample split in half with scalpel; View of opened up core revealing distinguished layers of sediment, different colors (10:09). All four research ships, including Vema, come together to make seismic recordings (10:42). R/V Bear (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution) (11:25). R/V Hidalgo (Texas A&M University) (11:27). USNS Josiah Willard Gibbs (T-AGOR-1) (11:32). Crew on R/V Vema hoists flags to signal to other ships to coordinate which ships will listen and make recordings and which will carry out explosion’ Gibbs gets into position for first firing (11:41). Crew on Vema lower hydrophones into ocean to pick up sound; Geophysical camera ready and waiting record shots; Cables slacked so hydrophones can float freely (12:34). Illustrated diagram detailing sound of explosion, speed of sound waves and depth of ocean (13:03). Seismic record spread out, crew gathers around to inspect results; Compare speed of sound waves to determine thickness of layers of earth’s crust (13:38). Vema sails into position for its turn to conduct firing, ship speeds ahead at full speed, Navy 300 lb depth charges readied on deck of ship (14:19). Illustrated diagram once again showing sound waves traveling through earth’s layers after explosion; Return to footage of other depth charges pushed over side of moving ship (14:37). Dusk begins to fall, narrator summarizes film and findings (17:04). Closing credits (18:00).

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