Mount Ararat is known as a StratoVolcano. This Lava tends to be Glassy like. Giving it a shimmer. In addition ice is covering the lava adds to the shimmer. It's a naturally occuring Glass called Obsidian which is found in Felsic Lava flow and is caused when this lava cools very quickly (like in a VERY cold enviroment at 13k Feet on Mount Ararat).
Click Here for StratoVolcano Wiki
The lava that flows from stratovolcanoes tends to be viscous; it cools and hardens before spreading far. The magma forming this lava is often felsic, having high-to-intermediate levels of silica (as in rhyolite, dacite, or andesite), with lesser amounts of less-viscous mafic magma.
Picture of Obsidian Lave almost identical to the Chinese explorer picture I posted above.
