Technology:

Volcano Watch: Will Drilling into Magma Start a Volcanic Eruption? (Hawaii 24/7)

Krafla volcanic area, Iceland

(Volcano Watch is a weekly article written by scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.)

It seems logical that if underground magma can start an eruption by forcing its way to the surface, one might also start an eruption by opening a conduit from the surface to the magma. While plausible, that doesn’t seem to be what happens.

Magma has either been drilled into—or risen to enter—a drill hole four times, according to the scientific literature. Of the four incidents, three occurred in Iceland and one in Hawai`i with one of the Icelandic examples producing a brief spattering of lava. In all of the examples, the wells were not destroyed and continued to be used for their original purpose afterward.

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