The Iceland Research Drilling Project

Abstract

This issue of the Journal of Geophysical Research contains the collected results of the initial studies of a 3‐km vertical section of Icelandic crust. The material described in these papers was largely presented at a meeting of the investigators working in this project held in Reykjavík, Iceland, from May 13 to May 15, 1980 Iceland presents a very well exposed example of crust formed at an accretional plate margin, the crest of the Mid‐Atlantic Ridge. The desirability of a detailed study of a long vertical section of Icelandic crust by deep drilling has been expressed in proposals and recommendations of scientists and international scientific committees since the early 1960's. A formal proposal with descriptions of several alternative drill sites was presented in 1975 [Working Group on Deep Crustal Drilling in Iceland, 1975], but difficulties in financing a drill hole that would penetrate into crustal layer 3 (Vp = 6.5 km/s) delayed implementation of the recommendations.

The dissolution rates of naturally altered basalts at pH 3 and 120 °C: Implications for the in-situ mineralization of CO2 injected into the subsurface

“…The sampling location of these rocks are provided in Figure 1. Five of the Icelandic samples were taken from a two kilometer long drill core recovered during the Iceland Research Drilling Project (IRDP) near Reyðarfjörður, eastern Iceland, during the summer of 1978 (Fridleifsson et al, 1982;Robinson et al, 1982a). The core cut through a succession of lava flows with their corresponding flow tops, breccias and massive layers (Mehegan et al, 1982;Robinson et al, 1982b).…”

Epidote in Geothermal Systems

“…In 1978 a 1920 m deep research drill hole was completed in Eastern Iceland (Fridleifsson et al 1982). The drill hole is located within the dike swarm that extends northwards from the Breiddalur central volcano, and is located just east of the Thingmuli central volcano.…”

A systematic study of altered basalt reactivity as a function of the degree of alteration

“…Samples B83S3, B130S2 and B316S3 were obtained from selected sections of a two kilometer long core drilled during the summer of 1978 by the Iceland Research Drilling Project (IRDP) near Reyðarfjörður, eastern Iceland [17,18]. The core cuts through a succession of lava flows with their associated flow tops and breccias [19,20].…”