LAVA Centre is closed due to COVID-19 travel restrictions
We’ve decided to close for the winter or until the travel restrictions are eased and we start seeing some visitors again. Read More
LAVA CENTRE INTERACTIVE EXHIBITION
MAGMA AND HOT ROCKS ON THE MOVE
See how large convection currents move hot mantle rock up and down beneath the huge plates and how mantle plumes (hot spots) intensify the upwelling, releasing molten rock—magma.
Icelandic volcanoes often lie on the rift zone where the tectonic plates drift apart (Divergent boundary). LAVA Centre explains this phenomena in the foyer of the centre and in the second hall on the creation and growth of Iceland and in the Intro to Volcanology hall. .
A huge mantle plume (hot spot), lies right under Iceland and is a is one of the reason for it’s activity. We find these plumes in places like Hawaii and the Galapagos. Some plumes are positioned far from tectonic plate boundaries, while others that normally represent even more activity lie near or under tectonic plate boundaries like in Iceland. At LAVA Centre here is a huge hall only talking about mantle plumes and the hot spot under Iceland.
Iceland lies on a tectonic plate divide (Divergent boundaries).In the second hall at LAVA Centre you can see how fast Iceland drifts a part in an interactive way.
In some areas the tectonic plates collide (Convergent boundaries). These can build the highest mountains or the deepest spots in the ocean and often have volcanic activities. In Iceland we do not have this but Japan is a typical area of convergent boundaries and volcanic activity due to that.
THE LAVA CENTER
Traverse the corridors, visit the exhibition halls and use the interactive displays at the Lava Centre to discover the colossal and complex natural forces that shape the Earth and began to create Iceland tens of millions of years ago.
VOLCANIC AND
EARTHQUAKE ALERTS
Watch the geophysical monitoring of active volcanic systems, earthquake activity and surface movements.
GET NOTIFIED!
