The frozen continent of Antarctica is, paradoxically, a hotbed of volcanic exercise.The ice-capped area is residence to some 138 volcanoes nestled beneath the snow, 91 of which have been found as just lately as 2017.While most of them are thought-about dormant or probably extinct, three have erupted in latest historical past based on the Smithsonian Establishment’s International Volcanism Program: Penguin Island in 1905; Deception Island in 1970, and Mount Erebus in 1972.The latter of those is arguably Antarctica’s most well-known – successful the titles of tallest energetic volcano on the continent – with its summit standing at 12,448 toes (3,794 metres) – and the southernmost energetic volcano on Earth.Satellite tv for pc photos of this behemoth reveal a scorching lava lake that’s been effervescent in its summit crater for the previous 32 years.It has been repeatedly erupting since “no less than 1972,” Conor Bacon, a postdoctoral researcher in volcano seismology on the College of Cambridge, informed Stay Science.Since then, it has been recognized to “emit plumes of fuel and steam” and infrequently hurl out rock “bombs,” which collectively are generally known as “strombolian eruptions”, based on NASA’s Earth Observatory. Mount Erebus has been repeatedly erupting since 1972 (Josh Landis/Nationwide Science Basis)However most terribly of all, these gusts of volcanic fuel are price their weight in gold – nearly actually.It’s because they’re loaded with tiny specks of gold – measuring no bigger than 20 micrometres, IFL Sciencereports.Nonetheless, whereas this quantity could seem minuscule, over the course of a single day, scientists estimate that the volcano churns out round 80g (2.8 ounces) of the valuable metallic, which is price greater than £4,800 ($6,000).And as you’ll count on of mud on the wind, the gold doesn’t merely keep on Mount Erebus.Slightly, traces of it have been detected 1,000km (621 miles) from the volcano after it travelled via the air.Nonetheless, Antarctic volcanoes aren’t all recognized for his or her glittering belches, and the questions many consultants are nonetheless making an attempt to reply are: might they erupt sooner or later? And what would occur in the event that they did?Researchers acknowledge that it’s arduous to foretell whether or not any of the 138 on the continent is a ticking time bomb.That is largely because of logistical and climatic challenges posed by the area’s unforgiving habitat.For starters, the volcanoes are a lot tougher to entry than these in different elements of the world, plus, all monitoring devices “must be rugged sufficient to outlive the cruel circumstances and lengthy polar nights,” Bacon harassed in his interview with Stay Science.So what would occur if a number of of those volcanoes have been to erupt?We will discover clues by peering again in time almost 20,000 years.A landsat picture of Mount Takahe which erupted some 18,000 years in the past, leaving a complete within the ozone layer(Landsat Picture Mosaic of Antarctica (LIMA). USGS and NASA, LIMA)One of many continent’s volcanoes, Mount Takahe, sits close to the distant centre of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet.In a 2017 examine, printed within the journal PNAS, scientists posited that Takahe was answerable for a collection of eruptions wealthy in ozone-consuming halogens that occurred about 18,000 years in the past.They claimed that these eruptions triggered an historical gap within the ozone layer and warmed the southern hemisphere.This induced glaciers to soften and helped deliver the final ice age to an finish, John Smellie, Professor of Volcanology on the College of Leicester, defined in a bit for Newsweek.Nonetheless, Prof Smellie conceded that for this kind of environmental influence to occur once more, it might require a collection of eruptions, equally enriched in halogens, “from a number of volcanoes which might be presently uncovered above the ice.”“Such a state of affairs is unlikely though, because the Takahe examine exhibits, not unattainable,” he wrote.“Extra seemingly is that a number of of the numerous subglacial volcanoes, a few of that are recognized to be energetic, will erupt at some unknown time sooner or later.”And, sadly, it’s fairly secure to imagine that they received’t explode with a pleasant bathe of gold mud.Join our free Indy100 weekly newsletterHave your say in our information democracy. Click on the upvote icon on the prime of the web page to assist increase this text via the indy100 rankings