In Iceland the first magma observatory in the world

: Published: 01 October 2021

The first infrastructure in the world that will allow the study of magma in situ will be installed inside the crater of the Krafla volcano in Iceland.

Directly reach the magma to understand its characteristics below the earth's surface. This is the ambitious goal that drives the construction of the first long-term magma observatory inside a volcano, Krafla, which will be built as part of the international project Krafla Magma Testbed (KMT). The National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) is at the forefront for the implementation of this important infrastructure.

“The KMT”, explains Paolo Papale, volcanologist at INGV, “he wants to create a magma observatory consisting of a series of open pits directly in, around and under the magma. Equipped with instruments capable of operating in extreme conditions, these observatories will allow us to broaden our knowledge of volcanic systems and to better understand the relationships between what happens inside a magmatic body and the relative measurements performed on the surface. The study of magma, in fact, up to now has been based on speculation and indirect observations precisely because of the difficulty of obtaining and sampling in situ".

The project has recently received major funding from theIInternational Continental Scientific Drilling Program, the continental scientific drilling program which sees, among others, the affiliation of UNESCO. EPOS – European Plate Observing System helps to support the Italian participation in the KMT.

"Currently", Papale continues, "INGV is carrying out simulations to understand the physical processes that occur when the drills reach the magma. The “encounter” has already happened in the past in an accidental way: in 2009 some drillers working for the use of geothermal energy drilled a magma chamber at Krafla but no important phenomena occurred”.
The questions that the project intends to answer are of a scientific, technological and industrial nature.

“No one has ever used drills in extreme conditions with the intention of leaving wells operational in the long term,” continues the expert, "so it is necessary to understand which are the best materials to use, both for the construction of the wells and for the instrumentation that will be installed there, in areas where temperatures reach 900°C and the extreme acidity of the circulating fluids makes the conditions highly corrosive. From a scientific point of view,

KMT will allow us to learn a lot about the detection of magma beneath active volcanoes, and about the relationships between surface measurements and deep magma dynamics, allowing for a more advanced level of understanding of volcanic processes and their hazards. Furthermore, it will be possible to study some fundamental aspects for the current theories on the origin of continents.
As far as the energy sector is concerned, the KMT will make it possible to study the possibilities of exploiting energy coming directly from magma, enormously increasing the effectiveness and relevance of geothermal energy, which is a form of clean and renewable energy"

“Finally, the KMT could represent a model for identifying and preparing other sites suitable for hosting this type of infrastructure. Italy, as a volcanic country, is a candidate and could, in the future, benefit from the positive effects of the project also in the industrial field”, concludes Paolo Papale.

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In Iceland the first magmatic observatory in the world

The first infrastructure in the world that will allow the study of magma in situ will be installed in Iceland, inside the caldera of the Krafla volcano.

Reaching magma directly to understand its characteristics below the earth's surface. This is the ambitious goal that drives the construction of the first long-term magmatic observatory inside a volcano, Krafla, which will be built as part of the international Krafla Magma Testbed (KMT) project. The Italian National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) is at the forefront for the implementation of this important infrastructure.

"KMT", explains Paolo Papale, INGV volcanologist, "wants to create a magmatic observatory consisting of a series of open wells directly inside, around and below the magma. Equipped with an instrumentation capable of operating in extreme conditions, these observatories will allow us to broaden our knowledge of volcanic systems and to understand, in greater depth, the relationships between what happens inside a magmatic body and the relative measurements carried out on the surface. The study of magma, in fact, up to now has been based on speculations and indirect observations precisely because of the difficulty of reaching and sampling in situ".

The project has recently received significant funding from the International Continental Scientific Drilling Program, which, among other things, is affiliated with UNESCO. EPOS - European Plate Observing System contributes to support the Italian participation in the KMT.

"Currently," Papale continues, "the INGV is carrying out simulations to understand the physical processes that occur when the drills reach the magma. The "encounter" has already happened in the past in an accidental way: in 2009 the drillers working at the Krafla volcano for the use of geothermal energy reached the magma chamber but no important phenomena occurred".
The questions that the project intends to answer are of a scientific, technological and industrial nature.

"No one has ever used drills in extreme conditions with the intention of leaving wells operating in the long term", continues the expert, "so it is necessary to understand which are the best materials to use, both for the construction of the wells and for the equipment that will be installed there, in areas where temperatures reach 900 °C and the extreme acidity of the circulating fluids makes the highly corrosive conditions.From a scientific point of view, KMT will allow us to learn a lot in the detection of magma below active volcanoes, and on the relationships between surface measurements and deep magmatic dynamics, allowing a more advanced level of understanding on volcanic processes and their dangerousness.Furthermore, it will be possible to study some fundamental aspects for the current theories on the origin of the continents.
As regards the energy sector, KMT will allow us to study the possibilities of exploiting energy coming directly from magma, enormously increasing the effectiveness and relevance of geothermal energy, which is a form of clean and renewable energy”.

"Finally, KMT will be able to represent a model for identifying and preparing other sites suitable for hosting this type of infrastructure. Italy, as a volcanic country, is a candidate and could, in the future, benefit from the positive effects of the project also in the industrial field" concluded Paolo Papale.

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