A melted wedding ring or a unique gift from the earth’s interior. Theories abounded when Evgenia Ilyinskaya, a researcher at the University of Leeds, encountered gold-colored lava at the Meradalir volcanic eruption. The first analysis meant that it was not possible to dismiss the gold nugget as fake. Now the riddle has been solved. And the answer was perhaps not as exciting as many hoped.
Evgenia Ilyinskaya, a volcanologist at the University of Leeds, has spent a lot of time in Iceland in recent years studying various eruptions. But when she was recently in Meradalir to examine lava from this summer’s eruption, she encountered something she couldn’t explain: a block of lava with hints of gold.
She shared the find on Twitter. The pictures created great interest and many also began to speculate about what it was she had found. Excitement rose when a researcher in mineralogy made some initial investigations and concluded that it was probably a metal and not paint.
Volcanic eruptions do not produce gold. Therefore, many people searched for an explanation for the find.
A theory that was widely spread was that it was Julija and Michael Domaschk’s wedding rings. The German couple got engaged in Iceland last year while the Geldingalir volcano was erupting. The plan was to also get married in Iceland, at the site of an ongoing eruption.
But when they were in Iceland this summer, there was no eruption to visit. They therefore chose to get married at Skógafoss. The next day, a volcanic eruption began in Meradalir. The couple saw it as a sign-and, according to Vsir, travelled there and threw their wedding rings into the glowing lava.
So it could be one of their wedding rings that melted. But that theory exploded when DV contacted the couple. The wedding rings were made of silver, not gold.
The guesswork continued. The mystery was solved when colleagues at the University of Leeds conducted more detailed investigations into the gold nugget.
An analysis of the lava showed that its chemical composition was consistent with last year’s eruption in Geldingadalir. During the summer eruption in Meradalir, older lava remelted when it came into contact with new lava. And this lava emanated from Geldingalir.
Evgenia Ilyinskaya writes on Twitter that it is therefore likely that it is an artist or someone else who has painted the lava with gold paint. There is also a gold colour that can look like real metal at first glance and analysis.
Although it is still unknown how it happened, it is clear that it was not a gold find in Meradalir.
