According to a New York Post article, an active volcanic peak in the Antarctic is spewing a fortune’s worth of gold into the earth’s atmosphere every day. Experts estimate that each day, Mount Erebus, one of the 138 active volcanoes in Antarctica, releases pockets of gas that contain around 80 grams of gold that has crystallized. This gold is worth roughly $6,000 (Rs 5 lakh).
Exploring Mount Erebus
The distance between the dust and the 12,448-foot volcano is as much as 621 miles. Gold dust is only one of many things spewing out of Erebus, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Earth Observatory.
“The volcano sits above a thin slice of crust, so molten rock rises more easily from Earth’s interior,” according to NASA, the American space agency. It frequently releases steam and gas plumes, and on rare occasions, it erupts violently, spitting out rocks in the form of bombs. Since 1972, at least one lava lake has been churning inside its caldera. It is believed that Mount Erebus is the world’s southernmost active volcano.”
“Speaking with Live Science, Conor Bacon of Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory stated that Erebus “has been continuously erupting since at least 1972.” The volcano is also well-known for its “lava lake” at one of its summit craters, “where molten material is present at the surface.” “These are actually extremely uncommon, as it requires some very particular conditions to be met to ensure the surface never freezes over,” he stated.
Meanwhile, Geographic isolation presents a problem for volcanic study.
Monitoring Volcanic Activity in Antarctica
Although, the Deception Island Antarctic Specially Managed Area, which keeps an eye on volcanic activity on the island, claims that Deception Island is the crater of an active volcano that last erupted in 1970. Only a few permanent monitoring devices are present on Deception Island and Mount Erebus, according to Mr. Bacon. Seismometers are the main component of these networks, which are used to identify seismic activity linked to volcanic instability. Occasionally, scientists will set up larger networks of instrumentation to carry out certain investigations, but this inevitably presents a great deal of logistical difficulties in comparison to the numerous, far more accessible volcanoes found across the world.”
“In addition to logistical challenges, the permanent installations need to be rugged enough to survive the harsh conditions and long polar nights,” stated Bacon.
