Current Research Projects: Hydrothermal systems active and fossil Iceland Deep Drilling Project: We are participating with four other researchers in the U.S. and many from Iceland and beyond in drilling a well into a supercritical geothermal reservoir (e.g. T=500°C) to examine the interface between the hydrothermal system and magma. We would like to extract fluids and examine the altered rock and veins they produce to understand what limits fluid permeability, such as rock creep and precipitation of minerals in fractures. Quartz precipitation in magmatic-hydrothermal veins: The massive stockwork of centimeter-scale quartz-sulfide veins in the 65 Ma Butte, Montana hydrothermal system provides the basis for our examination of the textures, fluid inclusions, and trace elements in quartz to decipher the details of what makes it precipitate and how long that takes.