Drilling observations in a simple, young igneous system soon after its emplacement would greatly improve our understanding of magmatic and hydrothermal processes and of the rates at which such processes operate. This project is a small piece of a large multi-agency project (NSF, USGS, DOE) involving scientific drilling in just such a system; the 1912 eruption at Katmai, Alaska. Important components of such a large multi-faceted project are planning, coordination, and synthesis of results. The Principal Investigator of this project will have a large part of this responsibility. This award provides funds to begin these tasks; specifically to visit the proposed drill sites to assess working conditions and complete design of the operations and to collect and analyze samples for characterization of the mineralogy.
