Mount Erebus volcano releases microscopic gold crystals daily

Mount Erebus, the southernmost active volcano on Earth, sits on Ross Island in Antarctica about 1,350 km from the geographic South Pole and features a permanent lava lake. Scientific studies have shown that the volcano ejects roughly 80 grams of elemental gold in the form of microscopic crystals each day, with particles capable of traveling up to 1,000 km in the atmosphere.

A research team led by geochemist Kimberly Meeker of the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology revisited the 1991 discovery, sampling snow around the crater, the volcanic plume, and Antarctic air up to 1,000 km away. Electron microscopy revealed well‑formed polyhedral gold crystals up to about 60 µm in size. Compared with Kilauea (500‑800 g/day) and Etna (2.4 kg/day), Erebus produces far less gold but remains unique for emitting crystalline gold particles.

Scientists have not reached a definitive explanation for the phenomenon. One hypothesis suggests gold separates from magma in chlorine‑rich volatile compounds that crystallise as the gases cool; another proposes gradual formation within a crust on the lava‑lake surface before being lofted by eruptive gases. After more than three decades, the exact formation mechanism remains unresolved.