I feel like the more cool things we learn about Antarctica, the more secrets are still down there chilling.
Heh.
Now, we learn that the southernmost active volcano in the world is pretty darn amazing, in its own way.
It might seem counterintuitive, but Antarctica is actually home to dozens of active volcanoes, all located in West Antarctica and Marie Byrd Land.
Many of the 138 identified are dormant, but at least eight or nine of them are regarded as active.
Three of them have erupted in recent history, but during the last ice age, large eruptions were happening on an extremely regular basis.
Mount Erebus is the tallest and most active (12,448 feet), and is considered the southernmost active volcano on Earth.
It was named after Captain Sir James Clark Ross saw it erupting in 1841, and is located next to two other volcanoes on Ross Island.
Inside the crater at its summit, smudges of red hint at the hot lava lake that has been bubbling hot since at least 1972. It regularly pumps out gas and steam, and even ejects boulders of partially molten rock known as “volcanic bombs.”
But that’s not all – the gas is also loaded with tiny crystals of metallic gold, smaller than 20 micrometers.
Scientists estimate that it spews out around 80 grams of gold in a single day – that would be worth around $6000 in the current market.
Researchers have detected gold dust in the air as far as 621 miles from the volcano.
Aside from erupting valuable and rare metal, Mount Erebus is famous for one of the world’s most famous air disasters – the crash of Air New Zealand Flight 901.
On November 28, 1979, it flew into the volcano. There were no survivors.
Captain Jim Collins attempted to fly lower to let people get a better look, descending downward in two large loops. Perhaps due to heavy cloud cover, he ended up hitting the side of the volcano in the process.
Flight 901 was a sightseeing flight from Auckland to Antarctica and back, and many of the cameras carried by the tourists were recovered. Their photos showed decent visibility and that the plane had descended below the cloud banks, which only led to more questions about what happened, instead of answers.
Experts believe a “whiteout,” in which the ice-covered volcano was essentially invisible against the icy-covered backdrop of the ground and sky, could be to blame.
New Zealand never made another sightseeing flight to Antarctica again.
I get it, but it’s also too bad.
For everyone involved, I suppose.
If you thought that was interesting, you might like to read a story that reveals Earth’s priciest precious metal isn’t gold or platinum and costs over $10,000 an ounce!