How deep could dwarves actually delve?

Given an arbitrarily long time to do so, what is the maximum depth too which a dwarven civilization could practically extend their mines / cities? And what would be the final limiting factor preventing further expansion of the downwards frontier?

I figure eventually they'll hit the Mohorovicic discontinuity and be prevented from going further by the fact that the rock will not remain sufficiently solid (and that's if they aren't killed by the heat at that depth first), which puts an absolute upper limit around 32km. But what insurmountable problems would they hit before that?

Assume that over sufficient spans of time, any necessary technologies can be developed or acquired; these can be fully modern dwarves, with advanced knowledge of fancy materials and engineering. They need not be stuck in a Tolkienian pseudo-Medievalist culture. Additionally, assume sufficient time for the dwarves themselves to evolve to adapt to conditions at depth, to whatever extent biological adaptation remains plausible.

posted over 5 years ago

Logan R. Kearsley‭

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