Antarctica’s gold-spewing volcano still mystifies scientists

A volcano in Antarctica is unlike any other—it not only erupts lava but also releases tiny particles of gold into the atmosphere.

According to international media reports, Mount Erebus in Antarctica is unlike any other volcano on Earth. As the world’s southernmost active volcano, Mount Erebus is home to a permanent lava lake and is the only known volcano that emits microscopic crystals of pure gold into the air.

A study published in Geophysical Research Letters in 1991 found that Mount Erebus releases approximately 80 grams of microscopic gold crystals every day.

Scientists believe the gold is carried upward in hot volcanic gases where it combines with chlorine- or sulfur-rich compounds. As these gases cool, the gold separates and crystallizes into tiny particles.

However, Mount Erebus behaves differently from other volcanoes and the exact process behind this phenomenon remains a scientific mystery. Researchers have proposed two possible explanations:

1. One theory suggests that the gold crystallizes directly from chlorine-rich volcanic gases as they cool. However, scientists consider this unlikely because the concentration of gold in the gases is extremely low.
2. The second theory proposes that the gold crystals gradually form on the surface of the volcano’s lava lake before being carried into the atmosphere by volcanic gases.

More than three decades after the discovery, scientists still do not fully understand how Mount Erebus creates and ejects its microscopic gold crystals making it one of the most fascinating unsolved mysteries in volcanology.