The scientific drilling campaign, what is it and why….
About twenty boreholes are being drilled to a depth of 120 meters in 8 of the 12 sites of the Rochechouart-Chassenon National Natural Astroblem Reserve. This scientific drilling campaign is the means for the Reserve to collect an unprecedented quantity and quality of information on the heritage it manages. These are the best experts from around the world who, through CIRIR, will provide it with unprecedented expertise at zero cost for the taxpayer (if not the drilling). For the scientists who are involved with CIRIR in this endeavor, this is a unique opportunity to be able to study samples of exceptional quality for their research, with an impact that is still poorly understood compared to other terrestrial impacts. Rochechouart has never been the subject of scientific drilling. If, as we have seen the first of the scientific drilling carried out by the Germans in the impact crater of Ries in Bavaria, the closest neighbor to that of Rochechouart, dates back more than 40 years, such drilling remains rare. The world experiences an average of one or two scientific drilling campaigns in a land impact crater every 10 years. This decade will have two, the first in Chicxulub in Mexico, campaign carried out in 2016 with a budget of around 10 M €, the second in Rochechouart this year, with a considerably lower budget, and yet scientific objectives and benefits. of the same order. This program is funded 42% from the State, 38% from Europe and 20% from local communities (the POL, Community of Communes Porte Océane du Limousin- 19%, the Departmental Council of Charente- 1%).