- Mount Erebus is the southernmost active volcano with a permanent lava lake in Antarctica
- The volcano emits about 80 grams of microscopic gold crystals daily, worth $6,000 each day
- Gold crystals can travel up to 1,000 kilometers before settling on Antarctic ice
Deep in Antarctica, Mount Erebus is unlike any other volcano on Earth. The world's southernmost active volcano not only has a permanent lava lake, but it is also the only known volcano that releases tiny crystals of pure gold into the atmosphere. According to a 1991 study published in Geophysical Research Letters, Mount Erebus emits around 80 grams of microscopic gold crystals every day. At current gold prices, that's worth roughly $6,000 (Rs 5,66,000) daily or more than $2 million (Rs 18.9 crore) a year.
Located on Ross Island in the Ross Sea, about 1,350 kilometres from the Geographic South Pole, Mount Erebus constantly releases volcanic gases from its lava lake. Scientists discovered that these gases carry microscopic particles of pure gold, which can travel up to 1,000 kilometres before settling onto Antarctic ice.
Using an electron microscope, researchers found that the gold wasn't just ordinary dust. The particles formed tiny, well-shaped crystals, some measuring up to 60 micrometers across.
How Does the Gold Escape?
Finding gold in volcanic gases isn't entirely unusual. Small amounts have also been detected at volcanoes including Kīlauea in Hawaii, Mount Etna in Italy, Augustine Volcano in Alaska and El Chichón in Mexico.
Scientists believe gold is carried upward in hot volcanic gases, attached to chlorine- or sulfur-rich compounds. As the gases cool, the gold separates and forms crystals.
However, Mount Erebus behaves differently from every other known volcano.
A Mystery That Remains Unsolved
Researchers have proposed two possible explanations.
- One idea is that the gold crystallises directly from chlorine-rich volcanic gases as they cool in the air. But scientists say this is difficult because the gases contain only tiny amounts of gold.
- Another theory suggests the crystals first grow slowly on the surface of the volcano's lava lake before rising into the air with volcanic gases.
More than three decades after the discovery, scientists still don't know exactly how Mount Erebus creates and releases its microscopic gold crystals. That unanswered question remains one of the volcano's greatest mysteries.
