Qualla: Fumarole Bay

Fumarole Bay: Introduction

Sun, 11 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Godot13, CC BY-SA 4.0. In one of the coldest places on Earth, steam rises from the ground at temperatures exceeding 100 degrees Celsius. Fumarole Bay lies within the flooded caldera of Deception Island in the South Shetland Islands, where volcanic heat meets Antarctic cold in a landscape that seems borrowed from another planet. This is one of the few places in Antarctica where you can stand on warm ground while surrounded by glaciers.

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Image: Godot13 | CC BY-SA 4.0

Fumarole Bay: The Flooded Volcano

Sun, 11 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Godot13, CC BY-SA 4.0. Deception Island is the caldera of an active volcano, its center collapsed and flooded by the sea to form the natural harbor of Port Foster. Ships enter through a narrow gap called Neptune's Bellows, sailing directly into what was once a magma chamber. Fumarole Bay occupies the s...

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Image: Godot13 | CC BY-SA 4.0

Fumarole Bay: History of Discovery

Sun, 11 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Godot13, CC BY-SA 4.0. Argentine explorers named this bay Bahia Primero de Mayo in 1942-43, after their expedition ship 1 de Mayo. That vessel would sink off the Argentine coast just two years later. The Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey conducted a full survey in 1953-54, and aerial photography fol...

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Image: Godot13 | CC BY-SA 4.0

Fumarole Bay: Fire Beneath the Ice

Sun, 11 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Godot13, CC BY-SA 4.0. Deception Island has erupted several times in recorded history, most recently in 1970. Scientific stations have been destroyed and rebuilt, abandoned and reoccupied. Today, researchers study the unique extremophile organisms that thrive in the hot springs while tourists wade in w...

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Image: Godot13 | CC BY-SA 4.0