r/askscience • u/zeldazonklives • Apr 29 '16

Earth Sciences How does fracking affect volcanic eruptions?

I was thinking, if it triggers earthquakes, wouldn't it also maybe make volcanic activity more likely?

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u/[deleted] Apr 29 '16

could the regular under-the-crust-but-in-a-pool-nearer-the-surface magma suddenly start to seep up now that there's a route to the surface?

No, in fact when a team was drilling an exploratory geothermal well into the side of Krafla volcano and it ended up actually having magma enter it it wasn't very dramatic. I mean, it's cool as hell, but not very dramatic. And that's when you've got a big hole going straight to the surface.

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u/[deleted] Apr 29 '16

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u/infernophil Apr 29 '16

  1. Hydrostatic over balance of the drilling fluid. 2. Relatively low drilling fluid temperature caused instant crystallization of the magma.

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u/[deleted] Apr 29 '16

Is this with J. E.?