Shallow Magma Targets in the Western U.S.

Abstract

Within the next few years a hole will be drilled into a shallow magma body in the western U.S. for the purpose of evaluating the engineering feasibility of magma energy. This paper examines potential drilling sites for these engineering feasibility experiments. Target sites high on the list are ones that currently exhibit good geophysical and geological data for shallow magma and also have reasonable operational requirements. Top ranked sites for the first magma energy well are Long Valley, CA and Coso, CA. Kilauea, HI, also in the top group, is an attractive site for some limited field experiments. A number of additional sites offer promise of geophysical data presently prevents these sites from being considered for the first magma energy well.