magma

A recent report from the Icelandic Meteorological Office suggests that magma is building up underground near a volcano known as Askja, a mountain about the size of Mount St. Helens in Vatnajokull National Park in Iceland’s central highlands.

That can cause the dynamic subterranean forces below volcanoes to produce increased quantities of magma, leading to more frequent eruptions.

“We'd like to instrument the magma so we can really listen to the pulse of the earth,” he adds.

“The plan is to drill just short of the magma itself, possibly poke it a little bit,” says Bjarni Pálsson with a wry smile.

They had planned to make a 4.5km deep borehole and extract extremely hot fluids, but the drill abruptly stopped as it intercepted surprisingly shallow magma.