Aerial photograph of Mount Michael, a volcanic mountain that's hiding a lava lake (Photo: Pete Bucktrout, British Antarctic Survey).
Aerial photograph of Mount Michael, a volcanic mountain that’s hiding a lava lake (Photo: Pete Bucktrout, British Antarctic Survey).

A vast and hellish lake of lava has been discovered on a ‘remote and inaccessible’ island near the Antarctic.

The fiery pool is one of just eight ‘persistent lava lakes’ discovered on Earth and was discovered by analysis of satellite data and photographs.

Scientists spotted a ‘geothermal anomaly” in the crater Mount Michael on Saunders Island, which is located in the British overseas territory

They then discovered an underground lake with a diameter of between 90 and 215 metres in diameter with molten lava at temperatures of roughly 1,000 degrees Celsius or more.

Geologist Dr Alex Burton-Johnson from British Antarctic Survey said: ”We are delighted to have discovered such a remarkable geological feature in the British Overseas Territory.

‘Identifying the lava lake has improved our understanding of the volcanic activity and hazard on this remote island, and tells us more about these rare features, and finally, it has helped us develop techniques to monitor volcanoes from space.’

False colour Landsat 8 satellite image of Saunders Island and the lava lake within the crater of Mount Michael (Image: British Antarctic Survey)
False colour Landsat 8 satellite image of Saunders Island and the lava lake within the crater of Mount Michael (Image: British Antarctic Survey)
A lava lake at Erta Ale Volcano in Ethiopia (Photo: Hervé Sthioul, Creative Commons)
A lava lake at Erta Ale Volcano in Ethiopia (Photo: Hervé Sthioul, Creative Commons)

We don’t yet have pictures of the lava lake – which may not still be there because the research only confirms it existed until 2018.

It’s on an island that’s very hard to get to, forcing researchers to use satellites to take photos of it from up in orbit,

Danielle Gray from University College London added: ‘Mount Michael is a volcano on a remote island in the Southern Ocean. It is extremely difficult to access, and without high-resolution satellite imagery it would have been very challenging to learn more about this amazing geological feature.’

There are 1,500 volcanoes on Earth, but just eight known lava lakes.

The other seven lava lakes on Planet Earth

Nyiragongo Volcano in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Erta Ale Volcano in Ethiopia

Mount Erebus in Antarctica

Mount Yasur in The Republic of Vanuatu

Kilauea in Hawaii

Ambrym in The People’s Republic of Vanuatu

Masaya in Nicaragua.