In a dark auditorium in Reykjavik, bubbling orange lava flows down a slide
to within inches of awe-struck visitors.
The flow, contained on both sides by black sand, lights up the room like a
sunrise.
اضافة اعلان
This is the Lava Show, Iceland's latest tourist attraction, that uses
reheated lava from a real eruption of the island's Katla volcano more than 100
years ago.
The heat emanating from the molten rock is tangible, so much so that some of
the spectators shuffle in their seats to remove their coats.
"This is the show where you get to experience real molten lava flowing
inside of a building, intentionally," the Lava Show's Scottish host Iain
MacKinnon joked.
The molten liquid sizzled as it hit blocks of ice, crackling like the sound
of breaking glass as it cooled.
"It was really beautiful," Jasmine Luong, a 28-year-old Australian
tourist from Melbourne told AFP.
"I can see why a lot of people would be drawn to (an eruption), but
obviously you wouldn't be able to go near it in a normal natural setting,"
she added.
"This is a lot safer."
- 'Wow effect' -
There is the same "wow effect" that people get at an eruption
site, MacKinnon said.
Hundreds of thousands of curious onlookers have flocked to watch the
hypnotising jets of lava at Iceland's Mount Fagradalsfjall after two eruptions
over the last year just 40 kilometres (25 miles) from Reykjavik.
But not all Icelandic eruptions are safe.
While the lava used in the show retains a hint of sulphur, the dangerous
toxic gases that normally emanate from an eruption have dissipated, since the
rock has been reheated and melted down so many times.
More than 600 kilos (1,320 pounds) of tephra -- the rocks ejected from Katla,
one of Iceland's most dangerous volcanoes, when it last erupted in 1918 -- are
used in the Lava Show.
"We heat that up to its melting point, which is around 1,100 degrees
Celsius (2,000 Fahrenheit) and then we pour it into the room," said the
show's founder Julius Jonsson.
In an adjoining room, a large furnace has been modified to suit the show's
needs.
Jonsson's company has run a version of the production in the seafront
village of Vik in south Iceland since 2018, but the Reykjavik show only opened
last month.
He came up with the idea of a lava show when he was standing atop a glacier
watching lava flow from Fimmvorduhals, a small eruption that preceded the
massive Eyjafjallajokull one in 2010, whose ash cloud disrupted air traffic and
stranded more than 10 million travellers.
Known as the land of fire and ice, Iceland has 33 volcanic systems currently
considered active, the highest number in
Europe. It has an eruption every five
years on average.
"We thought it would be wonderful for Iceland if lava would always be
flowing," Jonsson said.
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