Mount Erebus is not only the southernmost active volcano in the world, but also a veritable source of gold. He gets rid of a small fortune every day.
Ross Island - At 3,794 meters high, Mount Erebus is about the same size as Austria's highest peak, the Großglockner. The stratovolcano on Ross Island in Antarctica is not only the largest, but also the southernmost active volcano in the world. What makes it special is not just a lava lake that has been bubbling in its crater for decades. Mount Erebus, named after the Greek god of darkness, hurls a small fortune into the air every day.
Active Antarctic volcano spews gold dust instead of lava: tiny particles detected in air and snow
Volcanoes have always fascinated humanity. In many cultures they are viewed as the abodes of the gods. The Roman god of fire, Vulcan, is even considered to be the namesake for the term volcano that is used today. But volcanoes don't always present themselves as fiery mountains. Some supervolcanoes lie dormant and only express themselves through earthquakes or lie dormant somewhere at the bottom of the ocean. Others, however, emit large amounts of smoke and gas - or even gold particles, like Mount Erebus.
In the 1990s, US geologists discovered that in addition to gases and water vapor, the volcano also emitted tiny gold particles. It is estimated that around 80 grams of the precious metal escapes Mount Erebus every day. Researchers were able to detect particles with a diameter of 0.1 to 20 micrometers, i.e. a maximum of 0.02 millimeters, in the air, as the scientific magazine
New Scientist
reported in 1991. Gold particles up to 60 micrometers in diameter were even found in the surrounding snow and ice.
A small fortune every day: Mount Erebus volcano in Antarctica produces 80 grams of gold every day
The total 80 grams of gold emitted per day is worth around 5,730 euros (6,120 US dollars). However, the particles are too small and too widely dispersed to be collected in profitable quantities, as The
New York Times
reported back in the early 1990s. The gold was even detected in the atmosphere 1000 meters above the volcano.
There are 138 volcanoes in the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, many of which were discovered just a few years ago. However,
according to the science magazine
Live Science,
only two volcanoes on the ice-covered continent are currently considered active. Deception Island, a volcanic island in the South Shetland Islands that last erupted in 1970, and Mount Erebus, which forms the western side of Ross Island in the Southern Ocean.
However, volcanoes in Europe, such as Vesuvius, are much more threatening than Mount Erebus because they are closer to human civilization. The supervolcano near Naples keeps sending disturbing “signs of life”. And three other volcanoes off the Italian coast also pose an incalculable risk.