Volcano House is a geology exhibition in

Reykjavík Reykjavík ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói bay. Its latitude is 64°08' N, making it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. With a po ...

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

, located at Tryggvagata 11. The exhibition gives a brief overview of Iceland's geological history and volcanic systems.Volcano House: geology exhibition
(official website, retrieved on February 2014) Every hour the Volcano House shows two documentaries, one about the volcanic eruption of

Eyjafjallajökull Eyjafjallajökull (; ), sometimes referred to by the numeronym E15, is one of the smaller ice caps of Iceland, north of Skógar and west of Mýrdalsjökull. The ice cap covers the caldera of a volcano with a summit elevation of . The volcan ...

in 2010 and one about the volcanic eruption in the

Westman Islands Vestmannaeyjar (, sometimes anglicized as Westman Islands) is a municipality and archipelago off the south coast of Iceland. The largest island, Heimaey, has a population of 4,414, most of whom live in the archipelago's main town, Vestmannaeyja ...

in 1973. The mission of Volcano House is to give visitors a glimpse of the reality of living in Iceland, where

volcanoes A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates are ...

and

earthquakes An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...

are a part of daily life. Admission to the geology exhibition is free, but the documentary cinema is requires paid tickets.Volcano House: cinema
(official website, retrieved on February 2014)

History

Volcano House was established in 2011 by the siblings Hörður Gunnarsson, Þórir Gunnarsson, Svavar Gunnarsson, Dagbjört Gunnarsdóttir and their families.Volcano House: about us
(official website, retrieved on February 2014) According to the official website, the Volcano House closed "indefinitely" as of January 15, 2020. Dóra Magnúsdóttir is the general manager of Volcano House. Dóra is a Geographer with 25 years of experience in Icelandic tourism. Other staff members are for example Geologists, Geographers and tour guides.

Exhibition

A brief synopsis of Iceland's geological history and volcanic system are displayed in the Volcano House, together with photographs of the volcanic eruptions and other aspects of Icelandic nature.Visit Reykjavík: Volcano House
(retrieved on February 2014) Volcano House offers a hands-on geology exhibition where guests can handle various samples of

pumice Pumice (), called pumicite in its powdered or dust form, is a volcanic rock that consists of highly vesicular rough-textured volcanic glass, which may or may not contain crystals. It is typically light-colored. Scoria is another vesicular vol ...

ash Ash or ashes are the solid remnants of fires. Specifically, ''ash'' refers to all non-aqueous, non- gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyse the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, ash ...

and

lava Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a fracture in the crust, on land or un ...

from Icelandic volcanoes, for example ash from

and

Grímsvötn Grímsvötn (; ''vötn'' = "waters", singular: ) is a volcano with a (partially subglacial) fissure system located in Vatnajökull National Park, Iceland. The volcano itself is completely subglacial and located under the northwestern side of the Va ...

and

from

Hekla Hekla (), or Hecla, is a stratovolcano in the south of Iceland with a height of . Hekla is one of Iceland's most active volcanoes; over 20 eruptions have occurred in and around the volcano since 874. During the Middle Ages, the Icelandic Norse ...

. A collection of semi-precious rocks and minerals from around the country are also on display, and are available for purchase. Rocks on display are for example Jaspis,

Opal Opal is a hydrated amorphous form of silica (SiO2·''n''H2O); its water content may range from 3 to 21% by weight, but is usually between 6 and 10%. Due to its amorphous property, it is classified as a mineraloid, unlike crystalline forms ...

Obsidian Obsidian () is a naturally occurring volcanic glass formed when lava extrusive rock, extruded from a volcano cools rapidly with minimal crystal growth. It is an igneous rock. Obsidian is produced from felsic lava, rich in the lighter elements s ...

Rock crystal Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical form ...

and

Iceland spar Iceland spar, formerly called Iceland crystal ( is, silfurberg , ) and also called optical calcite, is a transparent variety of calcite, or crystallized calcium carbonate, originally brought from Iceland, and used in demonstrating the polarizati ...

. Volcano House offers guidance and information throughout the exhibit. The interior design of the exhibition intended to evoke the style of 1973, the year when the volcanic eruption in

Heimaey Heimaey (), is an Icelandic island. At , it is the largest island in the Vestmannaeyjar archipelago, and the largest and most populated island off the Icelandic coast. Heimaey is off the south coast of Iceland. It is the only populated isla ...

in the

occurred.

Cinema

The Volcano House cinema presents two documentaries covering two of the most powerful volcanic eruptions that have occurred in Iceland over the last 40 years - the 1973 eruption in

on the

, and the 2010 eruption of

in South Iceland. The documentaries are exclusively made for Volcano House and can not be shown anywhere else. Each screening is about 55 minutes and starts with a short personal introduction on Volcanology in Iceland. The films are shown every hour from 09:00 to 21:00. The films are also available in German, French and Icelandic. In the summertime the films are shown in German and French but from September until May they are shown in other languages upon request.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Volcano House official website
Museums in Reykjavík Geology museums in Iceland Tourist attractions in Iceland Volcanology