Australian Science Illustrated — Issue 54 2017

68 | SCIENCE ILLUSTRATED

MAGMA CHAMBER

Magma Heats the

Ground Water

Underground magma chambers heat the

ground water to 5,000 degrees, perforating the

ground, so water can flow freely.

Water seeps down to

magma chamber

1 Rainwater will slowly move towards the area right above the magma

chamber, because the magma-made rock

types are more perforated than their

surroundings. Above the chamber, a

ground water reservoir forms.

Magma rises up

through the ground

2 Right above the large chamber, magma slowly rises up through

the ground in narrow "arms", cools, and

hardens. The phenomenon produces the

perforated ground above the chamber.

Ground water rises

as liquid vapour

3

The water, which is seeping down,

is heated, turning into supercritical

fluid in the area above the chamber. The

vapour is liquid like water, but has the

characteristics of a gas, so it can rise up

through the tiny holes in the rock.

Red-hot magma rises

in Icelandic crack

Iceland is located on top of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge,

where the North American and the Eurasian Plates

meet. In between the two, magma from Earth’s

mantle rises to produce magma chambers close to

the surface – such as in the Reykjanes region.

5 KM

Mid-Atlantic

Ridge

Drilling station

Reykjanes

CLAUS LUNAU

IDDP/HS ORKA

AREA IN WHICH WATER IS SUPERCRITICAL FLUID.

WELL

SUPERCRITICAL FLUID

DRILLING STATION

TECTONIC PLATE

TECTONIC PLATE

TECHNOLOGY ENERGY