Science & Technology: Deep Drilling Geothermal Project Near Naples

The plan to drill into a supervolcano (BBC)

Stefano Carlino at the Campi Flegrei pilot borehole (Credit: Jonathan Frochtzwajg)

A volcano hidden off the coast of Italy is so huge that it has the power to change life on Earth – should scientists drill into it to unlock its secrets, or is the risk too great? Jonathan Frochtzwajg investigates.

This is the pilot borehole of the Campi Flegrei Deep Drilling Project (CFDDP), an ambitious initiative to drill more than three kilometres (10,000ft) into a supervolcano beneath the Gulf of Naples. Campi Flegrei dwarfs Mount Vesuvius, the region’s more famous volcano. It has the power to kill hundreds of thousands of people and even change the planet’s climate.

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