Drillers break into magma chamber

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carnkie
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie Topic Starter

16 years ago

Just as well it cooled and solidifyed.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7780873.stm

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tiger99
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie

16 years ago

I think it would take a fairly large hole for it to reach the surface without solidifying. But even so, I would not want to be anywhere near a drilling rig in these circumstances!

But what intrigues me is that it is obviously still very hot, but not under a serious amount of pressure, otherwise there would have been an eruption somewhere.

I wonder how far we would need to drill in the UK to find magma. There are quite a few localised hot spots (Matlock Bath, for instance) where groundwater is noticeably warm, but nowhere near boiling.

carnkie
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie Topic Starter

16 years ago

If I recollect correctly from my earth science days the magma under Britain is pretty deep, about 35k. So I'm not too sure what would cause the hot spots.

The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there.

sparty_lea
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie

16 years ago

Britain has very varied geology, its made up of remnants of several different tectonic plates so has quite a variety of underlying rock types including some granites.

Although the crust thickness isn't going to vary much in such a small area, some rocks conduct heat better than others, granite is a good conductor and if you combine the presence of an underlying granite with an old fault system which allows ground water to penetrate deep into the crust then a convection current can bring warm water to the surface, or if not to the surface then to a depth where mine workings can strike warm water.

Cambokeels mine in Weardale was an example of this happening. :smartass:

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carnkie
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie Topic Starter

16 years ago

Thanks for that clear explanation. Just to add I think care should be taken on the use of the term 'hot spot' to avoid confusion. In oceanography it's quite specific where much intraplate volcanic activity is related to 'hot spots' caused by thermal plumes rising from the lower mantle. Over time, the motion of the plates over the near-stationary hot spots leads to elongate chains of volcanoes and aseismic ridges. Two conspicuous examples are the Hawaiian-Emperor seamount chain in the Pacific Ocean and the Ninetyeast Ridge in the Indian Ocean.
As you point out this is obviously not the case in Britain.

The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there.