Lava Centre - Interactive Volcano and Earthquake Exhibition

At the Lave Centre, there are several exhibitions to broad your knowledge about volcanoes and earthquakes. In the Trembling Earth Section, you will learn how diverging tectonic plate movements and rising magma cause frequent earthquakes. Also, you will experience a simulated earthquake. In front of the Fiery Heart of Iceland, you will learn how the normal up-flow of magma at the diverging plate boundaries interacts with a mantle plume (hot spot) beneath Iceland, pin-pointed in the central highlands. Once the gaseous molten rock in the earth’s crust and mantle known as magma is expelled during a volcanic eruption, it is termed lava and tephra (airborne material). You will learn about volcanic material and rocks in the Magma Learning Centre. There are 30 volcanic systems in Iceland containing many types of volcanoes, which have a strong impact on nature and the rapidly developing landscapes. In the Magma Learning Centre, you will gain insight into many volcanic structures. Tephra forms when magma encounters water or ice or if the gaseous magma is very viscous. The magma splinters into pieces of various sizes that may spread over large areas. In the Local Volcano Section or gazing from the viewing deck, you have a panoramic view of four large and active but dormant volcanoes, plus a group of volcanic islands. All are of a different type and nature, and two of them are among the most active and productive volcanoes in Iceland.