lava-like
福島第一原発の３号機内部をロボットで調査した結果、多数の溶け落ちた核燃料が見つかりました。
Robot finds likely melted fuel heap inside Fukushima reactor
Images captured by an underwater robot showed massive deposits believed to be melted nuclear fuel covering the floor of a damaged reactor at Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant.
The robot found large amounts of solidified lava-like rocks and lumps in layers as thick as 1 meter (3 feet) on the bottom inside of a main structure called the pedestal that sits underneath the core inside the primary containment vessel of Fukushima's Unit 3 reactor, said the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co.
On Friday, the robot spotted suspected debris of melted fuel for the first time since the 2011 earthquake and tsunami caused multiple meltdowns and destroyed the plant. The three-day probe of Unit 3 ended Saturday.
取り上げる表現は"lava-like"です。『ジーニアス英和辞典』第４版（大修館）で"lava"を調べてみると、「溶岩、火山岩、溶岩（火山）層」とあり、"like"が付いてるので「溶岩のような」というニュアンスになるかと思います。大きな溶岩のようなかたまりが底に沈んでいたことが分かります。LDOCEでは、"hot liquid rock that flows from a volcano, or this rock when it has become solid"と定義されています。(Akim)
