Research Under Volcanoes May Show 1 Million Years of Geologic History
Scientists expect to discover 1 million years of geologic history through a three-mile-deep hole under Hawaiian volcanoes.
Researchers are planning to drill through the flank of Mauna Loa and into Mauna Kea’s old lava flows on the island of Hawaii in order to study the formation of volcanoes and the “hot spot” processes within the Earth’s mantle.
The National Science Foundation will fund the $6-million, six-year project, which will be administered by the University of Hawaii.
Scientists plan to extract cores from the three-mile vertical hole, then lower instruments into the hole to take samples and readings for clues about volcanoes. Drilling dates and sites have not yet been set.
The new project will also help scientists study earthquake cycles and the movement of ground water within volcanoes.
The work will be conducted in collaboration with U.S. Geological Survey researchers, UC Berkeley and Caltech. More than two dozen other universities around the world will also be involved.
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