Australia isn't exactly the first place you think of when the topic of massive, snow-capped volcanoes comes up. Most people think of the Outback or the Great Barrier Reef. But way down south—roughly 4,000 kilometers southwest of Perth—sits a giant. It’s called Big Ben. It dominates Heard Island, and honestly, it makes the mountains on the mainland look like tiny hills.
It's huge.
At 2,745 meters high, Mawson Peak (the actual summit of the Big Ben massif) is officially the highest point in any Australian state or territory, excluding the Antarctic claim. It beats Mount Kosciuszko by over 500 meters. But here’s the thing: almost nobody ever sees it. It’s tucked away in the "Furious Fifties," a stretch of the Southern Ocean where the weather is so consistently garbage that the mountain is shrouded in clouds roughly 360 days a year.
What exactly is Big Ben?
Big Ben isn't just a mountain; it’s a massive weather-beaten stratovolcano covered in ice. It’s about 25 kilometers wide. Most of it is buried under 14 different glaciers that grind their way down toward the sea. The island itself, Heard Island, is a jagged, desolate piece of rock that looks like something out of a Norse myth.
It’s active. Very active.
While most Australian volcanoes have been dead for thousands of years, Big Ben on Heard Island is one of only two active volcanoes in Australian territory. The other is on the nearby McDonald Islands. If you look at satellite imagery from the last decade, you’ll often see a faint plume of steam or a "hotspot" at the crater. In 2016, scientists on the CSIRO research vessel Investigator actually caught it in the act. They filmed lava flowing down the side of the mountain—the first time humans had witnessed an eruption there in years. It was a big deal because, usually, the only way we know Big Ben is doing anything is through thermal sensors on satellites.
The sheer difficulty of getting there
You can't just book a flight. There’s no airstrip on Heard Island. No jetty. No hotels. Basically, no nothing.
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To see Big Ben, you have to spend two weeks on a ship crossing some of the roughest seas on the planet. The Southern Ocean doesn't play nice. Waves can reach the size of apartment buildings. Even if you make it to the island, landing a boat is a nightmare because the coastline is mostly sheer cliffs or beaches guarded by massive swells and aggressive elephant seals.
Because of its status as a UNESCO World Heritage site and a strict nature reserve, you need a permit from the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) just to step foot on the shore. They don't hand those out to casual tourists. Usually, the only people who get to see the base of the volcano are researchers, expeditioners, or the occasional high-end "extreme" cruiser that happens to get lucky with a weather window.
Why does this volcano even matter?
Geologically, Big Ben is a bit of an outlier. It sits on the Kerguelen Plateau, which is basically a sunken continent. Most of this plateau is underwater, but Big Ben is the crowning jewel that poked its head above the surface.
Biologically, the island is a time capsule. Because it’s so isolated, it hasn't been trashed by invasive species like most other islands. There are no rats. No cats. No rabbits. It’s one of the few places on Earth where the ecosystem is almost exactly how it was before humans started moving things around. The volcano provides a backdrop for massive colonies of King penguins, macaroni penguins, and fur seals.
But it's the glaciers that scientists are watching most closely.
The ice on Big Ben is reacting to climate change in real-time. Since the 1940s, when the first Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions (ANARE) stayed on the island, the glaciers have retreated significantly. Some of the lagoons you see today didn't even exist 80 years ago; they were covered by hundreds of feet of ice. It's a living laboratory for how the world is changing.
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The 2016 "Discovery" and Recent Activity
For a long time, we just assumed Big Ben erupted occasionally and left it at that. But the 2016 expedition changed the perspective. The researchers weren't even there to look at the volcano; they were studying the biology of the surrounding ocean. When they saw the smoke and the red glow of the lava, it was a reminder that the Earth is still very much "under construction" in that corner of the world.
NASA’s Earth Observatory frequently picks up heat signatures from Mawson Peak. In recent years, these satellite "glimpses" have shown that the volcano has a fairly consistent level of low-grade activity. It's not usually blowing its top in a catastrophic way, but it’s constantly burping out lava and gas, slowly building itself higher while the glaciers try to tear it back down.
The "Hidden" Geography of Heard Island
If you look at a map, Big Ben looks like a giant circle. But the geography is actually quite complex. You have the main cone, and then you have these radial ridges and secondary vents.
- Mawson Peak: The actual summit, named after Sir Douglas Mawson.
- The Long Beach area: One of the few places where the terrain flattens out enough for wildlife to congregate in massive numbers.
- The Glaciers: Names like Vahsel, Abbotsmith, and Gotley. These are fast-moving (by glacier standards) and incredibly dangerous because of hidden crevasses.
Common Misconceptions
People often think Big Ben is in Antarctica. It’s not. It’s sub-Antarctic. That sounds like a small distinction, but it’s the difference between a frozen desert and a place that is perpetually wet, windy, and muddy. It rarely gets "super cold" like the South Pole, but it stays around freezing year-round. The humidity combined with the wind makes it feel much worse than a dry Antarctic day.
Another myth is that it’s "extinct." I still see old textbooks or travel blogs claiming Australia has no active volcanoes. That's technically true if you only count the continent of Australia. But if you count Australian territory, Big Ben is the king.
The Reality of Research Missions
Living at the foot of an active volcano in the middle of the ocean is as hard as it sounds. When researchers go, they live in "Haggis" huts—small, rounded fiberglass shelters that can withstand the 150 km/h winds that frequently whip off the glaciers. You’re eating freeze-dried food, wearing four layers of Gore-Tex, and hoping the radio works.
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Communication is patchy. Even today, with Starlink and better satellite tech, the extreme latitude and the mountain’s own mass can make signals tricky. It is, quite literally, one of the most isolated places on the planet. You are closer to the International Space Station than you are to a major city.
How to "See" Big Ben Today
Since 99.9% of people will never get to Heard Island, the best way to experience it is through digital means.
- Check the Australian Antarctic Division’s webcam: They don't always have one active on the island itself because of the power requirements, but they do have incredible photo archives.
- Sentinel-2 Imagery: If you’re tech-savvy, you can use the Copernicus Browser to look at satellite shots. If you find a day where there are no clouds—which is rare—the view of the volcano from space is stunning.
- The "Investigator" Footage: Look up the 2016 CSIRO video of the eruption. It’s the closest most of us will ever get to seeing lava hit the snow in the Southern Ocean.
Why it stays in our imagination
There’s something romantic about a place that is almost impossible to reach. In an age where every corner of the world is on Instagram, Big Ben on Heard Island remains a mystery. It doesn't care if you're there to see it. It just keeps erupting, grinding its glaciers, and standing tall against the wind.
It's a reminder that the wild still exists.
If you're genuinely interested in the geological history of the region, you should look into the "Kerguelen Large Igneous Province." It’s the massive underwater volcanic structure that Big Ben sits on. Understanding that explains why this volcano exists in the first place—it’s a "hotspot," similar to Hawaii, where a plume of heat from deep within the Earth’s mantle is punching through the crust.
Actionable Steps for the Curious
If you want to dive deeper into the world of sub-Antarctic volcanoes, here is how to stay updated:
- Follow the GVP: The Global Volcanism Program (Smithsonian Institution) keeps a dedicated page for Big Ben. They log every satellite-detected thermal anomaly and plume. It’s the best way to know if the volcano is currently active.
- Search for ANARE History: Read the journals of the early Australian explorers who lived on the island in the late 40s and 50s. Their descriptions of trying to climb the lower slopes of Big Ben are harrowing and fascinating.
- Virtual Mapping: Use Google Earth Pro (the desktop version) to view the 3D rendering of the island. While the satellite imagery is often stitched together from different days, it gives you a sense of the vertical scale of Mawson Peak compared to the rest of the island.
- Check Heritage Status: Review the UNESCO World Heritage listing for Heard and McDonald Islands. It provides a detailed breakdown of why this specific volcano is considered "of outstanding universal value," specifically focusing on its pristine geological processes.