Mount Erebus blows USD 6,000 worth of gold into the air every day

The southernmost continent is known for being cold and inhospitable. But thousands of years ago, many volcanoes spewed their lava and hot vapors into the atmosphere. This happened before it got cold in the Antarctic. Mount Erebus is a volcano that has survived the cooling and is always good for surprises.

The active volcano Mount Erebus spews 6,000 US dollars worth of gold dust into the air every day, as the NASA Earh Observatory announced last week. According to the press release, the volcano spews out gas bubbles containing 80 grams of crystallized gold every day.

Mount Erebus is certainly the most famous volcano in Antarctica. With a summit height of 3,794 meters (12,448 feet), it is the highest active volcano in Antarctica and also the southernmost active volcano on earth.

The glacier-covered mountain was discovered in 1841 by Sir James Clark Ross during the expedition named after him and after the HMS “Erebus”, the flagship of his two-ship expedition fleet. When the Ross expedition arrived on the island, they witnessed an eruption of the volcano.

The mountain was first climbed in 1908 by a group of participants in the British Nimrod expedition led by Sir Ernest Shackleton. Among the climbers were the well-known Antarctic explorers Douglas Mawson and Tannatt William Edgeworth David.