The second phase of the Hawaii Scientific Drilling Project in Hilo, Hawaii, a cooperative research project involving Caltech, the University of Hawaii, and the University of California, Berkeley began on March 15, 1999. This research project is the culmination of more than ten years of scientific review, testing, and analysis directed toward the study of the planetary processes that produced the Hawaiian Island chain. The core-drilling program is collecting a continuous sequence of samples from the now buried lava flows that formed Mauna Kea volcano; the core samples recovered will span as much of the history of Mauna Kea volcano as the drilling technology (and available funding) will permit. The researchers hope to reach a depth of 15,000 feet; almost 3 miles beneath the surface. This project is the largest and most important scientific drilling program funded by the National Science Foundation during the coming decade and promises to provide new insights not only into the origin of Hawaiian volcanism but also into volcanic hazards, the histroy of the earth's magnetic field, and groundwater movement deep within the volcanoes.

Photo courtesy of Hawaii Scientific Drilling Project (HSDP).