(1) On an ice-crusted ridge, 3000 feet above the sea level, Emma Nicholson takes a deep breath…

(1) On an ice-crusted ridge, 3000 feet above the sea level, Emma Nicholson takes a deep breath behind her respirator. She checks her climbing harness, and steps inside the gaping mouth of an active volcano. (2) It is a little after 4 p.m. on the wind-whipped summit rim of Mount Michael. Located in the uninhabited South Sandwich archipelago, the island is one of the most isolated places a person can travel to on Earth. It is roughly 500 miles from the closest permanent station on South Georgia and more than a thousand miles from the nearest shipping traffic. (3) After years of planning and enduring a torturous 1,400 miles voyage through turbulence in iceberg-infested seas, the thirty-three year old volcanologist is on the verge of becoming the first scientist to lead an exploration inside Mount Michael's crater, where she hopes to collect new clues about active volcanoes and to find the lava lake. (4) But Mount Michael is not a volcano that easily reveals its secrets. (5) The weather being unpredictable, Emma's team estimates that they have only sixteen days to unearth its mysteries. (6) At first glance, the inner part of the volcano seems harmless, giving way to a gentle snow slope. Emma cautiously descends using the rope which is her only connection to the outside world. She understands that somewhere below, she can encounter danger. The seemingly harmless terrain might end in an unstable ice cliff overhanging the inner rim of the volcano. (7) As she inches her way down, carrying a computer and a heat-sensing camera, conditions improve - the wind subsides and patches of blue sky appear overhead. Beyond her face shield, Emma can see a circle of vertical walls of ash covered rock and ice. (8) As she goes deeper into the mountain crater, she looks around, slightly wide-eyed. She understands she is standing inside the Earth's chimney - a place that bears the scars of one of nature's greatest displays of power. (9) It dawns on her, "I am the first person to peer down the insides of the Earth." (10) A reassuring tug pulls against her harness. The rope, Emma knows, is connected to a most trustworthy anchor, Carla, the mountain guide. Without a line of sight to Emma, Carla knows that an overhanging cliff could fall without warning, sweeping her friend down the throat of the volcano. Carla calls out, "Emma, are you alright?" Her voice echoes in the hollow crater acting as a reminder to Emma not to forget herself and go too far. She had to get back up. (11) As she is pulled up, she realises that only one thing eludes her, the thing that brought her to this remote place - where is the lava lake? (12) Sixteen futile days pass looking for the lava lake. On the last day, during repacking, the photographer lets out an unexpected cry, "Will you have a look at that?" she says, pointing upwards. (13) Everyone drops what they are doing and stare. A shimmering cloud appears in the night sky above Mount Michael. At first, their eyes register deep reds and violets against the starry black night. It resembles the last light from the sun, except that the sun had set two hours ago. Emma slowly realises that the light is coming from inside the volcano. As they stare at the cloud, the colours seem to gently shift, the red becoming scarlet then orange, the deep violet softening to purple. (14) She shivers from the excitement. The display they witness, projected onto the underside of the cloud, is the first real sign of what Emma has journeyed halfway around the world for - the lava lake! (Adapted from: Ice and Fire, National Geographic, November 2023)