Advances and innovation

The main advances and innovations of HOTSPOT are:

• It makes easily accessible to science multidisciplinary geophysical observations from all the abovementioned observational systems.
• It integrates observational facilities, which are available at various institutes, into this infrastructure and makes them operative.
• It prepares the existing infrastuctures to become able to adapt various new and significant observations into the system by other projects.

• In cooperation with a large number of end users and on basis of networking actions HOTSPOT designs new and necessary geophysical observatory systems, utilizing the experience gained by the available infrastructure.

By this HOTSPOT prepares facilities for innovative research and nescessary extension of observations:

• Research aiming at understanding how intrusive magmatic fluids break into the crust, and how to record such pulses of activity. This is significant for mitigating volcanic risks. The methods used may be applicable also in areas of minor fluid activity, as may be expected in seismic zones in relation to large earthquakes.
• Research aiming at understanding how stresses are transmitted in the crust and how these load the seismic zones and the rift zones. This is significant for seismic as well as volcanic risk mitigation efforts, anywhere on the earth.
• Research aiming at exploring the wider and deeper roots of the Iceland mantle plume by giving research an easy access to well controlled seismic data from a wide area. The very successful tomography exploration of the Iceland plume is mainly based on data from Iceland only, which do not express the total extension of the plume, neither horizontally or to depth.
• Wide area of geoscience research which relies on the availability and the easy access of well controlled geophysical data. High level observational systems in Iceland which are kept going with the main objective of immediate risk mitigation purposes or for power plant monitoring purposes are made available and extended to serve the general needs of research of crust/mantle dynamics and deformation processes.
• Research which aims at applying and testing new obseravations. By technically preparing the infrastructure by networking and by service HOTSPOT opens for input of new research initiatives, applying new sensors for new observations in the area, and collecting information far beyond the present scope and capability of the observational facilities.
• Extension of the infrastructure into the North Atlantic Ocean, between Greenland, Scandinavia and Iceland, applying permanent and well established stations in the islands, and ocean bottom observatories, is a challenging and timely step and creates basis for innovative earth science research. Going to ocean bottom observatories involves technological innovation work. It is outsite the scope of the present proposal. However, HOTSPOT will by experience and networking among potential end users of such geophysical ocean bottom observations prepare for realizing such a research. The infrastructures on land are a significant frame for this extension. Making these fully accessible for research will encourage and prepare further steps into the oceanic areas.
• The design of the remote automatic multidisciplinary observatory, the HOTSPOT Station, in the harsh conditions of Central Iceland, is in itself a technological innovation. It involves utilizing complementary methods for securing necessary power, methods based on utilizing modern communication methods in such conditions, methods securing unattended operation for a long period of time.