2018 ICELAND Ring Road 15 - Lava Land on the Road to Reykjavik

Mike woke up with a terrible upset stomach. We had intended to go to the Skógar Folk Museum before heading west, but decided to let him sleep in to help settle things down. We got on the road about 11:00. Our first stop was the Volcano and Earthquake Exhibition at the Lava Center. It is right off the Ring Road in Hvolsvöllur.

We lived in California for many years, so we're familiar with earthquakes. We went through several, but the worst was the Loma Prieta earthquake on October 17, 1989. It occurred during the third game of the world series between the Oakland Athletics and the San Francisco Giants (both local teams). The magnitude was 6.9 on the Richter Scale and was centered near Loma Prieta Peak in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

We were both at work at the airport. Mike rode it out in the air freight building. Once it was over, he went outside and saw buildings collapsed around him. I was in the terminal in a classroom with six students. You never saw seven gals get so skinny so fast as to fit within a door frame. Lights went dark and computers went flying. The airport sprinkler system went off, drenching the airport. It took several days to pull out all the old carpeting and damaged wiring, before we could get back to work.

All in all Mike and I and our four cats were pretty lucky. We weren't hurt and our home had only minor damage. During 15 seconds, 3,000 people were injured, 67 lost their lives, and damages topped $5 billion. That included a 1.25-mile segment of I-880, a double-deck freeway that collapsed upon itself killing 42 people and closing the Bay Bridge between San Francisco and Oakland. This main thoroughfare finally reopened in 1997.

The only volcano experience we had was on the Big Island of Hawaii. On one of our visits Kilauea was spouting off. It looked gorgeous at night from our hotel window. Sadly she is active again in a big way and people's homes and lives are greatly disrupted.

OK, back to this trip. The Lava Center is an amazing place for information. Lots of hands-on learning. It includes a huge interactive display area, volcano cinema, restaurant, cafe, and gift shop. The price was around $25 USD per person, but way worth it.

The journey starts in a long corridor that walks you through a time travel display of Icelandic volcano eruptions since 1900. At each stop, you can push buttons to learn more about lava volume, time span of each eruption, etc. The hallway is dark, but lights up as you move along. Here are all the volcanoes described.

 

In the first room you come to a globe-like device which demonstrates the creation and growth of the island of Iceland. By manually moving a circular bar, the display shows the changing mantle plume, Mid-Atlantic Ridge magma upwelling, and tectonic plate forces evolving to "birth" and develop the island. All very scientific, but fascinating to watch in fast-mo.

Another room has a very large structure (from basement level to ceiling) offering a visual representation of the magma column beneath Iceland. It depicts Iceland's fiery heart in this land of fire and ice.

The next couple areas house nine interactive computer screens demonstrating various types of volcanoes, eruption debris, lava flow, aging, and geological processes. There are also matching "moving" dioramas displaying the information.

 

 

The last room is the best. Three walls offer graphics of major Icelandic volcanoes. If you stand in certain spots on the floor and point (not touch) with your finger to spots on the wall graphics, the volcanoes come to life or give info about that particular event.

Throughout the exhibit there are certain spots you step on to feel a little rumble like a mild earthquake or hear sounds of an eruption. We learned volcanic eruptions can occur without first having an earthquake. Many other interesting facts and figures are provided, plus info on how eruptions affect the environment.

The theater shows a 12-minute video from the latest volcanic activity on the island. It shows debris and ash flying, lava oozing, and smoke billowing, and how people and animal stock handled the situation. The theatre was quite cool, with huge lounging pillows on the floor among the chairs. Mostly kids plopped on them.

Back in the lobby we chatted with Helgi, who lived in this area his whole life. He was eleven during the last volcanic eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in 2010. His dog got hyper and paranoid several days before. Three to four inches of ash covered everything. No human was killed, but a few livestock did not make it. Volcanic ash and smoke halted air traffic, but by Iceland standards it was not very impressive.

Here are volcanic hot spots around the world, as well as tectonic plate divides. It takes a minute to figure out the divides, but notice the one going through Iceland. Will talk about it later.

We checked out the cafe and restaurant--both modern and pretty much the same menu we have seen along the way--but decided to eat later.

Before departure we browsed the gift shop stocked with all kinds of quality Icelandic products and mementos. Our only purchase was "volcanic salt." The bag looked pretty...mostly black salt with reddish salt sprinkled in. I wasn't thinking hot on the palate, but just how pretty the color combo was. Silly me! It was way too hot for me, but Mike and all my hot-tongued friends love it.