Watch: Rare eruption of isolated Antarctic volcano Big Ben shot by Australian scientists

The scientists were studying underwater volcanoes, when one of land-based Antarctic volcano Big Ben's rare eruptions caught their attention.

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A picture of one of the Big Ben volcano’s rare eruptions, captured by the scientific crew aboard the research vessel — the Investigator. Big Ben has erupted only thrice since the turn of the century. (Source: Pete Harmsen via Blog.csiro.au)

Australian scientists have witnessed the rare eruption of an Antarctic volcano off the coast of the frozen continent.

The scientists from Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) filmed the volcanic event by chance while aboard research vessel ‘Investigator’, studying the fringe of Antarctica’s Heard Island.

Heard Island — a remote sub-Antarctic region — is home to Big Ben, which is an active volcano believed to have only erupted three times since the turn of the century. Given the island’s isolation, viewing Big Ben — which is mostly covered in ice throughout the year — during an eruption is considered a geoscientific rarity. Often, satellite images provide the only evidence that an eruption has occurred.

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Chief scientist aboard the Investigator, IMAS professor and geophysicist Mike Coffin, said that it was a great thrill to film the 2,745m volcano in action, and become one of the few people in human history to have witnessed its eruption. “We have 10 excited geoscientists aboard the Investigator, and our enthusiasm has spread to our 50 shipmates,” Coffin said in a CSIRO press release.

Based 4,100km southwest of the Western Australian city of Perth, the crew is only three weeks into their 58-day research voyage. Working in conjunction with the University of Tasmania’s Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS), the crew was actually looking to study underwater volcanoes.

Despite the trip barely getting underway, the researchers claim to have already uncovered “50 potential underwater hydrothermal plumes,” which may help establish whether active underwater volcanoes — which create these plumes — form the foundation for life in the Southern Ocean.