The Magma UNESCO Global Geopark covers a vast area across the municipalities of Eigersund, Flekkefjord, Sokndal, Bjerkreim, and Lund. Its defining feature is anorthosite, the same type of rock that makes up the light areas of the moon. Here on Earth it is rare; in the Magma Geopark it forms a pale, barren landscape that genuinely looks lunar, especially on the Hellersheia plateau where huge blocks and caves sit on exposed bedrock.
The rocks crystallised about 930 million years ago in magma chambers deep below the surface. Successive ice ages then stripped away the softer material, leaving the hard anorthosite exposed. The geopark includes the Brufjell sea caves, the Trollpikken rock formation, old mines, and the Flekkefjordbanen railway. There is no single visitor centre; the geopark is a network of sites best explored by car with hiking boots.
The rocks crystallised about 930 million years ago in magma chambers deep below the surface. Successive ice ages then stripped away the softer material, leaving the hard anorthosite exposed. The geopark includes the Brufjell sea caves, the Trollpikken rock formation, old mines, and the Flekkefjordbanen railway. There is no single visitor centre; the geopark is a network of sites best explored by car with hiking boots.