2017 Fall Meeting

11-15 December

There have now been multiple cases where geothermal drilling penetrated magma. In no case was this intentional and in one case an effort was made to avoid magma. Together with long experience from coring lava lakes, these drilling achievements demonstrate that molten rock can be reached, controlled, and even cored. Maturing technology and societal needs to understand eruption risk and develop clean energy compel the next step: Intentional exploration. Magma in situ is the fundamental ground of igneous petrology, crustal evolution, geothermal energy, and volcanic eruptions. What have we learned so far from chance encounters with the real thing? Why, with multiple techniques, are we deficient in locating magma? How will improved knowledge of location and conditions of magma impact hazard assessments? Can use of extreme sensors for direct monitoring improve eruption forecasting? Can energy be extracted directly from magma? Where and how should we try to answer these questions?