Scientists drilling a borehole deep into Iceland’s rocky crust to explore new methods of using geothermal energy hit a major roadblock on Thursday: Their drill ran into molten rock at a depth of 6,900 feet.
A research project in Hawaii hit magma in 2005, and in 1977 magma erupted out the top of a producing geothermal well not far from our site in Krafla, Iceland
The team had originally planned to drill to 11,500 feet, or almost 2.2 miles into the earth.
drilling fluid came in contact with magma, creating an explosion. Glass shards removed from the hole provided evidence for this
Based on geophysical mapping of the area, Schiffman said, the team suspects that it has encountered a small offshoot of a larger magma body that lies more than two miles below the surface. “Whether we can keep drilling or not will depend on the thickness of this magma finger, and whether it’s horizontally or vertically oriented
clipped from: www.physorg.com 