At Krafla Caldera in northern Iceland, scientists are preparing for what could be one of the most ambitious geoscience projects ever undertaken. To discover the secrets of magma, and to unlock the ultimate potential of the earth’s heat, they have begun work on the Krafla Magma Testbed.
In 2009 the Iceland Deep Drilling Project sought to reach deep into the earth to establish a new geothermal energy source at a site near Krafla. But once they reached around 2km the drilling failed when a force pushed back against it – they’d hit magma and the drill bit was stuck.
Finding magma at this depth was a huge surprise to the geoscience community – in Iceland and beyond. Though we know that pockets of magma exist deep below the surface, that the earth’s crust is formed by magma rising and cooling and that it forms volcanic eruptions when it reaches the surface, knowing more beyond laboratory and computer simulations has been impossible as we had no direct access to magma.
The 2009 incident opened up the possibility of finding out more – but it required a means of drilling directly into and sampling liquid magma. To do so would take the expertise of the very best in volcanology and geoscience as well as industry experts in geothermal drilling. By combining talent in all these areas from the best in Iceland as well as all over the world, the Krafla Magma Testbed was born.
KMT will be the first international infrastructure, a field observatory, built to directly study magma and its coupling to the hydrothermal system above it. This is analogous to a particle accelerator for physics or telescope array for astronomy but is focused on understanding processes occurring under the most extreme conditions in Earth’s crust.
With the aim to begin drilling in 2024 the KMT team are working hard to bring together the infrastructure and insight needed to make this a possibility. Doing so would be a game-changer with an impact around the world.
A better understanding of magma and the processes beneath the earth could lead to a much better predictions of volcanic eruptions. At the same time, accessing the superhot steam next to the magma could allow geothermal energy to provide magnitudes more power, and have a major impact on climate change goals.
Beforehand, the Krafla Magma Testbed would have a direct effect on the local community in towns like Reykjahlíð, providing infrastructure, employment and energy to some of Iceland’s more remote areas. The KMT team are working closely with local Icelanders to ensure the work they’re doing benefits them, just as it changes the world.
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