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Risky Drilling of the Phlegraean Fields

January 31st, 2010 by Rob | Posted under supervolcano.

geostrutt flegrei Risky Drilling of the Phlegraean Fields


You may not have heard of the Phlegraean Fields (aka Campi Flegrei), but it’s the site of one of the largest supervolcanoes in (relatively) recent times. Erupting 200 cubic kilometres of magma 39,000 years ago, and still active, it is one of the potential candidates for a supervolcanic event in 2012.
Perhaps tempting fate, scientists are due to start drilling into this volcano right now. The reasoning is standard – drill a hole to take a look, and learn more about volcanoes.
But is it worth the risk?
“Under unfavourable conditions, contact of the drilling fluid with magma could be very dangerous,” says Ralf Büttner, a volcanologist at the University of Würzburg in Germany. “It is even theoretically conceivable that, ultimately, a major eruption could result.”
…The greatest risk would be if the drilling accidentally pierced a silica-rich magma chamber under high pressure, releasing trapped gases, saysVolker Dietrich, also of the University of Würzburg. “The threat of explosion is extremely high. Theoretically, any type of eruption could be triggered,” says Dietrich. “In some circumstances, the risk is of a total disaster.”
It isn’t getting the publicity, but perhaps the drilling is more of a risk than the Large Hadron Collider? Even without the drilling, a paper due out in Geophysical Research Letters suggests that “hazard planners should prepare for eruptions in decades or less” at the Campei Flegrei.
If you are considering being a long way from volcanoes in 2012, perhaps consider a permanent move. Modern civilization doesn’t seem to fully appreciate the risk.

Related posts:

  1. New Hominid = Mysterious Elders
  2. The Other Drilling Disaster: Turkmenistan 1971-2010
  3. Mount St Helens – Supervolcano?
  4. SuperVolcanoes: A Very Real Threat
  5. New 2012 Social Network

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