“This is a show where you see real molten lava flowing inside a building, on purpose– opens the show’s Scottish host Iain MacKinnon. Indeed, the Lava Show experience is unique in the world. visitors can get up close to a real lava flow in a performance hall in the city center of Iceland’s capital.
- Trips to Iceland. customized tours, hotels and accommodation from our partners
In the middle of the hall, arranged like a movie theater with retractable seats, stands a structure lined with basalt columns that resemble the organs of Reynisfjörður, a very popular black sand beach in southern Iceland. About forty visitors settled there, the vast majority of whom are tourists. After a few minutes about the origins of the project and Icelandic volcanology, the documentary presents the most important volcanic eruptions since the colonization of the island in the late 9th century. Then comes the long-awaited announcement.Lava has flowed in Reykjavík for almost 5,000 years… Until now“.
The red-hot lava then descends down a steel slope surrounded by black sand and illuminates the room like a sunrise. It’s the stove that makes the audience want to drop their jackets. At the end of the race, the molten liquid freezes to the touch of the ice blocks and rattles with the sound of breaking glass as it cools. Although there is a characteristic smell of lava during the show, its repeated heating has freed it of toxic gases, allowing the public to get closer than it really is.
A real lava flow in a “safer” environment
fig-i-b31c6fa6738d8dcf3f8e8166c5e0a91f fig-lazy fig-placeholder–with-dimensions" data-module="fig-photo" data-context="was @visible" data-modal-image='
If hundreds of thousands of curious people last August and a year ago, about forty kilometers from Reykjavík, could see the charming sight of bubbling around the mountain Fagradalsfjall, then not all Icelandic volcanic eruptions are so peaceful. Hence the interest of such a scene.People who go to the site of the eruption have a “wow effect” when they first get there and see it. We have the same effect heresays Mr. MacKinnon.
In order for real lava to flow into the chamber, 600 kilograms of tephra, these fragments of rocks during the eruption were found near Katla, one of the most dangerous volcanoes in Iceland (in the south), whose last resurgence took place in 1918.We heat it up to its melting point, which is about 1100 degrees Celsius. Then it melts. And we pour it into the room“explains Julius Johnson, co-founder with his wife of the Lava Show, which has been attracting visitors to the architectural tourist town of Vic in the south of the island since 2018, before also establishing itself in the country’s capital. A huge furnace used to melt metal, modified for the show, is adjacent to the room and is fueled by methane.
The idea for these performances came from atop a glacier watching the lava flow at Fimvörduhals, a milder eruption that preceded the more violent eruption from Eyjafjälläjökull in 2010 that paralyzed air transport. The North Atlantic is one of the most active and productive volcanic regions on Earth and erupts on average every five years.
Source: Le Figaro
I’m Ashley Mark, a news website author for Buna Times. I specialize in writing articles about current trends and breaking news stories. With my passion for uncovering the truth behind every story, I strive to bring readers the most up-to-date information available.