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Drilling Hits an Active Magma Chamber In Hawaii

Posted by timothy on from the time-for-a-lava-luau dept.

Smivs writes "The BBC are reporting that drillers looking for geothermal energy in Hawaii have inadvertently put a well right into a magma chamber. Molten rock pushed back up the borehole several meters before solidifying, making it perfectly safe to study. Magma specialist Bruce Marsh says it will allow scientists to observe directly how granites are made. 'This is unprecedented; this is the first time a magma has been found in its natural habitat,' the Johns Hopkins University professor told BBC News. 'Before, all we had to deal with were lava flows; but they are the end of a magma's life. They're lying there on the surface, they've de-gassed. It's not the natural habitat.' It is hoped the site can now become a laboratory, with a series of cores drilled around the chamber to better characterise the crystallisation changes occurring in the rock as it loses temperature."

62 of 251 comments (clear)

  1. Hot Drill Bit by JamJam · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I wonder if the magma melted the drill bit?

    1. Re:Hot Drill Bit by von_rick · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I think they must've used a pile driver and not a traditional drill.

      Molten rock pushed back up the borehole

      If it was rotary drill, it would have occupied the volume of the borehole.

      But knowing very little about geological drilling, I admit that I could be entirely wrong in my reasoning

      --

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    2. Re:Hot Drill Bit by Endo13 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I'm fairly certain you're wrong in your reasoning, but I also am not an expert on the subject so I could be wrong as well.

      However, first thing is the material that has to be removed as they drill. They would probably need some kind of rotary drill for this. Also, I can tell you from experience drilling other types of things (such as wood and concrete) that a rotary drill will never entirely occupy the volume of the borehole - there's always some slop that happens as you drill, and some space beside the drill bit. The other thing you may not have considered is that the magma could have forced a rotary drill up the borehole.

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    3. Re:Hot Drill Bit by mikael · · Score: 2, Informative

      The hole was 2.5km deep. Drill bits are rotational, so the friction with the rocks causes them to reach temperatures above 700 Fahrenheit. Thus they need to be kept cool using liquid coolant. From the article, the magma entered the drill hole, but cooled down after rising a good number of metres before solidifying.

      National Driller

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    4. Re:Hot Drill Bit by lymond01 · · Score: 4, Funny

      I'm fairly certain you're wrong in your reasoning, but I also am not an expert on the subject so I could be wrong as well.

      You're an old hand here at Slashdot, aren't you. ;-)

    5. Re:Hot Drill Bit by syncrotic · · Score: 4, Informative

      You're picturing a drill bit like you'd find on the end of your drill at home, with grooves running all the way up the bit that transport the cuttings to the surface. In rock drilling there's a bit at the bottom of the hole(either percussive or rotary), connected to the drill rig by a pipe of smaller diameter than the bit. Cuttings are forced up through the space between the drill pipe and the wall of the borehole by either high pressure air or water.

    6. Re:Hot Drill Bit by fizzup · · Score: 4, Funny

      I have worked in economic geology as a summer student when I was at university, and I can vouch for the fact that hollow rotary drills are in common use. The drill core (the part of the rock that goes in the hollow centre) is the whole purpose of drilling the hole in the earth.

      The drill is a gasoline or diesel engine, and the drill bit is a piecewise continuous long hollow tube. The drill bit is quite short, and the business end is a ring of industrial diamonds. The whole tube spins, and water is used to carry away the cuttings. To remove the core, the whole nine yards gets pulled up, and the drill core comes with it. The drill core is put in boxes, with depth markings on it.

      The last (optional) step is for the drill operator to piss on the drill core. When the geologist opens the box of drill core, the first thing he does is lick the rock, because you can see the colour variations in wet rock a lot easier than in dry rock.

      It seems to me that if you drilled into some magma with one of these diamond drills, you would run the risk of the whole earth collapsing like a balloon thththpththpthpthpthtpp. :)

    7. Re:Hot Drill Bit by James+McP · · Score: 4, Interesting

      TFA says This is not the first time drillers have encountered magma; the depth of the hit and the setting are, however, thought to be unique.

      I'll summarize. a) this is dacite as compared to basalt (aka this is closer to "continental" magma than "Hawaiian" magma). b) It's close to the surface (2.5km) and c) it's freaking hot.


      "We were at about 2.5km which is pretty routine drilling depth," explained Mr Teplow.

      "But that is half the depth of experimental projects in Europe and Australia where they are drilling very deep into hot granite - some 5-5.5km down - and getting 260C rock; and here we're getting 1,050C rock."

      I don't feel like doing the math right now but the power generating options from a 1000C heat source is very, very, very good.

      If the geologists figure out how to find shallow magma anywhere near a cross-connected power grid, you can product a ton of energy.

      For a localized environment like Hawaii, they could make huge strides in cutting external fuel needs. I'm generally anti-hydrogen because of the losses between generation and transportation but it would be very feasible for Hawaii to use the excess power from a geothermal power plant to produce hydrogen that could be transported the relatively short distances between islands by boat to provide fuel to other islands. I'm not an EE, but it seems like converting their current fuel-oil generators to hydrogen would be a fairly inexpensive process.

      They already have an electric car initiative which would further cut down the bulk of their fuel oil imports.

      --
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    8. Re:Hot Drill Bit by jfeldredge · · Score: 3, Funny

      The last (optional) step is for the drill operator to piss on the drill core. When the geologist opens the box of drill core, the first thing he does is lick the rock, because you can see the colour variations in wet rock a lot easier than in dry rock.

      And then the geologist says, "Someone's been eating asparagus!"

    9. Re:Hot Drill Bit by darrenbjohnson · · Score: 5, Interesting

      2.5 Km isn't all that deep for a drill. I've spent more time then I would like to admit on a LF230 Rig and depending on the rod size they can go a lot deeper. I imagine the drilling went something like this: So you are drilling down, maintaining torque and rodfeed, all of a sudden you hit a void (this case magma pocket) and your torque drops off to zero your rodfeed hits zero resistance. So you stop the rods slowly, you don't want a twist off in a void. You turn up your mud, you notice that there is some serious pressure in your rods, you pull the rods up 20 or so feet. By this time your core barrel is filled with magma and melting, but it's in a nice wet mud casing cooling it. You then notice the pressure wont drop cause your drill shoe is solid rock. You turn off the mud, look over at your helper, grin and say it's gonna be a fun night. You then proceed to remove all 2.5km of rods from the whole, a big pain in the ass. The whole trip out is wet as the mud has nowhere to go but out of where you disconnect them every 40 feet or so, the drilling helper and hopefully the drill op is soaked in mud. They finally get to the last 10 ft rod, look down the rod at a giant tube of rock, the helper runs out of the rig, the operator starts throwing stuff. Nothing amazing, a 2 or 3 in diameter tube of cooled magma sits in your rod. You just ruined $50K+ worth of stuff depending on the rods, the bit, the core barrel, and etc. You then proceed to wait for the foreman to come and laugh at you.

    10. Re:Hot Drill Bit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      "Nothing amazing, a 2 or 3 in diameter tube of cooled magma sits in your rod."

      I don't think amazing fits, but that would sure suck ass!

  2. They found it by Lord+Apathy · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Well they found it. Seems to me this would be the best source of geothermal they could hope for. If they could just keep it from plugging up the bore hole.

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    Supporting World Peace Through Nuclear Pacification

    1. Re:They found it by GreenCow · · Score: 3, Funny

      well if they had some space age, heat resistant pipes to shove down there into the magma, then run some liquid through the pipes to transmit the heat to a steamer, we'd have delicious vegetables in no time. i mean geothermal power. large scale geothermal.

      it'd be pricey to make the first one, but it could be a big player in renewable energy. and unlike solar panels and wind mills which are like socialized energy because everyone controls the production, this could be a major central project for a greedy corporation.

      then before you know it they drill to deep and there's a balrog running the streets.

    2. Re:They found it by MikeUW · · Score: 5, Funny

      I believe those pipes would need to be made from an alloy known as 'unobtainium'.

    3. Re:They found it by evilad · · Score: 2, Informative

      You might not get as much heat conducted into that pipe as you'd hope. Magma has a finite thermal conductivity. More so after it's cooled to the point of solidification.

    4. Re:They found it by 19thNervousBreakdown · · Score: 3, Funny

      No shit, I'm wondering how exactly it was "inadvertent" to drill into liquid hot mag-ma when you're drilling toward the hottest thing you can find on a volcanic island.

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    5. Re:They found it by barzok · · Score: 4, Funny

      Every time I try to lay pipe near/inside volcanoes, she tells me "not tonight, I have a headache."

    6. Re:They found it by evanbd · · Score: 2, Informative

      You mean like copper? Regeneratively cooled rocket engines use copper chambers quite commonly, in an environment far harsher. As long as the cold side has enough coolant flow, the whole chamber (or in this case pipe) stays cool. There's a boundary layer of cooler gas or rock between the copper and the hot stuff that is where most of the temperature difference lies.

      For efficiency in a generator, though, you want the highest fluid temperature you can get. Copper would limit the temperature, so you'd probably go for some sort of nickel based superalloy, which would permit operation at temperatures around 1000C.

    7. Re:They found it by frieko · · Score: 3, Insightful

      That's only because there's a blanket of insulating rock holding the heat in. Hence the need for volcano-pipes.

    8. Re:They found it by Fluffeh · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Not quite the best source of geothermal. You see these sort of bubbles of magma aren't really truly connected to the lower greater heat sources. It was most likely formed due to one of the eruptions from the 50's or 60's (From TFA) and therefore isn't going to keep the same level of heat. The article even says that they want to study it as it cools.

      For a proper geothermal energy supply you want to drill down to the real stuff, not a random bubble up close that you found by luck that might be there for for another 20-50 years before it's a big bubble of rock.

      Most geothermal energy sources rely on much much cooler things than molten rock. We simply don't have anywhere near the technology to harness this sort of heat into energy.

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    9. Re:They found it by afidel · · Score: 4, Informative

      We simply don't have anywhere near the technology to harness this sort of heat into energy.

      Like hell we don't, molten salt solar plants use salts that boil at 1400C and magma only reaches about 1300C max, the solidified area that would form around the pipe would lower the delta T to well below what such a system could handle.

      --
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    10. Re:They found it by Thelasko · · Score: 2, Informative

      well if they had some space age, heat resistant pipes to shove down there into the magma, then run some liquid through the pipes to transmit the heat to a steamer

      I believe those pipes would need to be made from an alloy known as 'unobtainium'.

      Hold a lighter up to the bottom of a plastic water bottle. No, it won't melt. The water keeps it cool. As long as those pipes are always filled with water they won't melt.

      Just about every method we use for creating steam uses this concept, from locomotive boilers, to hot water heaters, to the kettle on your stove. Just make sure they don't run dry, or bad things will happen.

      --
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    11. Re:They found it by MikeUW · · Score: 2, Informative

      Let's clear this up - you and a few others seem to have missed the contextual reference to the movie The Core...at least four /.ers got it right though. :)

    12. Re:They found it by The+Fun+Guy · · Score: 3, Informative

      'unobtainium'

      What a disappointment. If only there were some kind of material that could withstand the 1200C of near-surface magma, or some means of rapidly extracting the heat so we could use it for generating electricity.

      Unfortunately, there's no economic incentive to develop these technologies.

      --
      The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read them. - Mark Twain
  3. Re:I'd rather be... by Timothy's+Mom · · Score: 5, Funny

    You insensitive clod! What if Timothy reads this?

  4. Perfectly safe? by truckaxle · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Molten rock pushed back up the borehole several meters before solidifying, making it perfectly safe to study

    When dealing with a pressurized body of molten rock with entrained gasses, I don't think one could ever say it is perfectly safe.

    1. Re:Perfectly safe? by Fastolfe · · Score: 4, Insightful

      If it were truly under a dangerous amount of pressure, wouldn't this borehole have become another volcano? The fact that it traveled only a short distance before solidifying suggests the pressure isn't a concern.

    2. Re:Perfectly safe? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Molten rock pushed back up the borehole several meters before solidifying, making it perfectly safe to study

      I'm sure they're leaving out their initial observations which probably went something like: "OH FUCK!! RUN! ok.. i think it stopped.. let's change our underwear then we'll send the new guy over to check it out"

    3. Re:Perfectly safe? by Thelasko · · Score: 2, Interesting

      This whole thing makes me wonder if they are in fact dealing with lava and not magma (yes, there is a difference). Lava is known to form lava tubes, which could be mistaken for magma. Hey, I'm no geologist, I'm just saying... how are they so sure?

      --
      One of our competitors trademarked the term "hypothesis". From now on, we will call them "boneheaded ideas".
    4. Re:Perfectly safe? by SatanicPuppy · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Not sure that would be an issue. Magma is pretty dense, so it's not like a huge chunk of rock would just displace into it in the same way as if it were water. Depending on the density of the rock above, it might even float on the magma.

      It's also pretty close to the surface (obviously) so there isn't (apparently) enough weight on it to produce the pressure needed to remove some of that magma and create a void for the land to fall into.

      It also appears to be self-sealing, which is also good for safety.

      For a hellish molten holocaust waiting to happen, it seems pretty benign.

      --
      ad logicam Claiming a proposition is false because it was presented as the conclusion of a fallacious argument.
    5. Re:Perfectly safe? by Chris+Burke · · Score: 4, Funny

      I'm sure they're leaving out their initial observations which probably went something like: "OH FUCK!! RUN! ok.. i think it stopped.. let's change our underwear then we'll send the new guy over to check it out"

      "Oh yes, of course it's perfectly safe, Ensign Burke. Nothing to worry about. Now go on over there and examine the bore hole. Oh but first put on this official red shirt signifying your position on our team."

      --

      The enemies of Democracy are
    6. Re:Perfectly safe? by tehcyder · · Score: 2, Funny

      Hey, I'm no geologist, I'm just saying... how are they so sure?

      Because they're geologists?

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
  5. Odd misreading... by tomknight · · Score: 4, Funny

    Dammit, I read "..active manga chamber...". Confused, yes.

    --
    Oh arse
    1. Re:Odd misreading... by geminidomino · · Score: 2, Funny

      Pfft... throw in a schoolgirl in a sailor suit every month and everyone's happy.

  6. It's a gusher!! by xleeko · · Score: 5, Funny

    All that I can picture is the classic 19th century drill tower with glowing magma spraying from the top, and lava-coated workmen running around cheering "It's a gusher!!"

    Actually, in my mind, the workmen look a lot like Homer Simpson ...

    1. Re:It's a gusher!! by Chris+Burke · · Score: 2, Funny

      Actually, in my mind, the workmen look a lot like Homer Simpson ...

      In my mind, they look a lot more like Freddy Krueger.

      --

      The enemies of Democracy are
    2. Re:It's a gusher!! by gardyloo · · Score: 4, Funny

      In my mind, there's one workwoman, she's played by Natalie Portman, and the lava is actually hot grits.

    3. Re:It's a gusher!! by Spyderman_26 · · Score: 3, Funny

      Except one looks like Rainier Wolfcastle, and he's yelling "The goggles....they do nothing!!"

  7. The dream realised by El+Yanqui · · Score: 5, Funny

    "It has been described as a geologist's dream"

    Dare to dream, geologists. Dare to dream.

    --
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    1. Re:The dream realised by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      A man goes into a restaurant, sits down and starts reading the menu. The menu says:

      Broiled Accountant $5.95 per plate
      Fried Engineer $7.95 per plate
      Toasted Teacher $7.95 per plate
      Grilled Geologist $25.95 per plate

      The man calls a waiter over and asks "Hey, why does the Grilled Geologist cost so much more?"

      The waiter says, " Are you kidding? Do you know how hard it is to clean one of them?!?!"

      What a lode of fuchsite.

  8. I bet that got interesting... by TheHawke · · Score: 3, Funny

    When his gauges pegged at the upper limits and his torquemeter went to zero when he breached the wall of the chamber.

    --
    First rule of holes; When in one, stop digging.
    1. Re:I bet that got interesting... by Panspechi · · Score: 5, Funny

      That sentence somehow got me pretty hot

    2. Re:I bet that got interesting... by Lord+Apathy · · Score: 4, Funny

      Interesting might be an understatement. More like "Oh Shit!" You know, those two words you never want to hear your bomb technician, drill operator, or gynecologist exclaim.

      --

      Supporting World Peace Through Nuclear Pacification

    3. Re:I bet that got interesting... by kiyoshigawa · · Score: 2, Funny

      or gynecologist

      Slashdot readers typically don't need to worry about that one...

      --
      So sayeth Tim.
  9. Oblig. Daniel Plainview post by east+coast · · Score: 3, Interesting

    If you have a glass of magma, and I have a glass of magma and I have a straw. And let's say my straw and it reaches across the room and into your magma. I drink your magma. I DRINK IT UP!

    --
    Dedicated Cthulhu Cultist since 4523 BC.
  10. Old news.... This happened in 2005 by Maddog+Batty · · Score: 4, Informative

    I would love to know why it was kept quiet for so long.

    "The breakthrough was made in 2005. Only now are researchers confident enough about their work to discuss the details publicly."

    So what were they not confident about? Hot temperatures - check. No drill bit left - check. Rock fused to end of drill - check.

    --
    wot no sig
    1. Re:Old news.... This happened in 2005 by denis-The-menace · · Score: 3, Interesting

      RE: So what were they not confident about?

      Getting suppressed by W. and Co.

      -It's science... check
      -It threatens oil usage... check

      --
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    2. Re:Old news.... This happened in 2005 by Jah-Wren+Ryel · · Score: 3, Informative

      -It's trolling... check

      No, it is more like making light of a very serious problem.

      --
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  11. Quote of the year by Psychotria · · Score: 4, Funny

    This is unprecedented; this is the first time a magma has been found in its natural habitat

    Is this professor also known as David Attenborough?

  12. Perfectly Safe? by Yossarian45793 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Molten rock pushed back up the borehole several meters before solidifying, making it perfectly safe to study.

    I don't think that phrase means what you think it means...

  13. Re:bake him some cookies he'll get over it by Gizzmonic · · Score: 2, Funny

    Warning!

    This is a troll recipe! I mixed it up and put it in my oven, and what came out? Tubgirl!

    --
    (-1, Raw and Uncut is the only way to read)
  14. Ooops by electrictroy · · Score: 3, Funny

    Dear Boss:

    We had a tragic accident today. We were drilling for heat - well the good news is we found it. Lots of it. The bad news is that we destroyed a $50,000 drill bit and pipe.

    Please don't fire me.

    No pun intended.

    Your faithful employee, and gracious servant, who hopes you will come to my home for Christmas dinner. Or any other dinner you desire...
    John Doe

    --
    The government is not your daddy. Its purpose is not to raid middle-class neighbors' wallets and give it to you.
  15. how magmanimous of you by jollyreaper · · Score: 4, Funny

    Drill, baby, dr--AAAAUGH! It burns!

    --
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  16. Not granite... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    "Magma specialist Bruce Marsh says it will allow scientists to observe directly how granites are made."

    No, because the magma in Hawaii is mafic in composition, yielding basaltic or gabbroic) rocks, not felsic like granites. Maybe they mean being able to observe intrusive processes like the ones that produce granite?

    1. Re:Not granite... by lmckayjo · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Read the article. This magma chamber is NOT apparently basaltic, and has much in common with magmas that produce granite. 67% silica content - which is very uncommon to see in anything on the surface here in Hawaii.

      That said, the important thing isn't probably going to be understanding how volcanoes in other parts of the world work, but just in how this volcano works. That won't get as much funding as studying "how continents originally formed" or other highly derived hypotheses that this site might generate, so the geologists are focusing on what sounds good to people OTHER than Hawaiians (who are generally against messin' with da aina anyway).

      -L

    2. Re:Not granite... by DogFacedJo · · Score: 2, Informative

      Yeah, see, that's what is apparently interesting about this magma - it *is* felsic, in Hawaii, the middle of the bloody Pacific.

    3. Re:Not granite... by jolyonr · · Score: 4, Informative

      I know this is Slashdot, but perhaps you should read the full article. The magma encountered was unusually high in silica (ie felsic) - a dacite-type lava. They are excited about this because it is showing how granitic continental-style magma can differentiate from your normal basaltic lava.

      So yes, it would potentially be granitic rather than gabbroic in nature. Isn't geology fun!

      The same thing happens in Iceland too, there are dacite-type and rhyolitic-type lava flows, although a far lower percentage than the normal basaltic flows. Silica-rich lava is a much nastier stuff when it gets to the surface, explosive, but more viscous and less runny than your basaltic lava. That's why you didn't get a geyser of molten-hot lava coming up the tubes [slight simplification, but hey, this is slashdot].

      Jolyon

      --


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  17. Drilling into a volcano - and were shocked? by kimvette · · Score: 2, Insightful

    But the drillers were shocked - not only to hit magma but to also hit such a big heat source at the relatively shallow depth of 2.5km.

    I'm sorry, call me naive. However, would any of you here be shocked if you drill into a frigging volcano and discover - gasp - magma?

    I mean, isn't all of Hawaii just a bunch of volcanos? How can anyone be "shocked" to find magma close to the surface of a volcano? Especially geologists? Like, isn't geology their field? Doesn't it stand to reason that a volcano, you know, a mountain made of lava flows, lava which when underground is called magma, just might -- might -- have magma relatively close to the surface?

    --
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  18. Drilling for geothermal energy may harm your home by fzimper · · Score: 5, Interesting

    In the German city of Staufen, they drilled some 140m deep holes to get geothermal energy for heating the town hall and adjacent buildings.

    Unfortunately, this drilling caused many cracks in houses around the city centre. Some of these cracks are said to be big enough that you can put your fingers in.

    According to this article on the English Spiegel (a German news magazine) website, dated March 2008, the whole city is sinking. In a recent German article from November, they write that the city has risen several centimeters due to water mixing with gypsum deep down and therefore causing the gypsum to expand.

  19. They were scared! by mangu · · Score: 4, Informative

    So what were they not confident about?

    In 1943 a farmer in Mexico was plowing his field, when smoke started coming from the soil. Today the nearby village is like this.

    Even if the lava in the hole solidified almost instantly, they had to make sure there would be no unforeseen evolution.

  20. magma doesn't have a habitat by tfiedler · · Score: 2, Informative

    Someone should tell these geologists that magma isn't alive and therefore, it doesn't have a habitat. Next thing you know, someone will want to put volcanoes on the endangered species list because we're destroying their "habitat."

    --
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  21. Re:bake him some cookies he'll get over it by soundguy · · Score: 2, Funny

    This is apparently the recipe for TROLLHOUSE COOKIES

    --
    Nothing worthwhile ever happens before noon