Drilling into heart of Iceland volcano complete

[Mark]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-38833023

An attempt to drill into the heart of a volcano in the south-west of Iceland is now complete. Geologists have penetrated 4,659m down, creating the deepest-ever volcanic borehole. Their aim is to tap into the steam at the bottom of the well to provide a source of geothermal energy. They recorded temperatures of 427C, but believe the hole will get hotter when they widen it in the coming months. The Iceland Deep Drilling Project (IDDP) team also collected 21m of cores, which will now be analysed. Gudmundur Omar Fridleifsson, from Icelandic energy company HS Orka, the lead funder of the scheme, said: "We got some beautiful samples - everyone is very pleased."

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