The Antarctic Volcano Spitting Gold into the Atmosphere

The gold particles, some measuring up to 60 micrometers across, are carried aloft by volcanic gases emanating from the mountain’s permanent lava lake. While trace amounts of gold have been identified at other sites like Italy’s Mount Etna or Hawaii’s Kīlauea, Erebus remains the only volcano known to consistently produce these distinct, well-shaped crystals. Researchers suggest the gold likely attaches to chlorine or sulfur-rich compounds within the rising heat, separating and crystallizing as the plumes cool in the frigid Antarctic air.

Despite being identified in a 1991 study, the precise mechanism behind this phenomenon remains a geological puzzle. Experts currently debate whether the crystals form directly within the cooling gas stream or develop slowly on the surface of the lava lake before being lofted into the atmosphere. With particles capable of traveling up to 1,000 kilometers from the crater, the gold ultimately settles across the vast, inaccessible ice sheets of the continent, leaving the origin of these microscopic treasures an enduring mystery.