The Aurora and Smoking Hills: September 2, 2026

Cecilia Clark

3 minutes ago

2 min read

At about 3:10 am, the PA in all our rooms announced that the Aurora could be seen on the starboard side. Fred said it was faint, but it was visible. I got out on the balcony and took my first photo at 3:12am, but as I was trying to figure out the right exposure, focus in the dark, remember that the ship is moving and I don't have a tripod, those first photos weren't so good. Also, there was still ambient light from the sunset. What I saw with my eyes was something like smoke snaking through the sky. The color comes from a longer exposure as the light accumulates on the film or digital sensor. I did finally get some photos that were a little soft but acceptable. It is always magical to behold the Aurora Borealis.

Since 2020, HX has applied for a permit every year to go near The Smoking Hills. It wasn’t until this year that their permit was granted. It was another first visit for this ship.

The weather was foggy but as the zodiacs went near, the layer of fog lifted somewhat and we could see the top of the hills.

The Smoking Hills are located on the east coast of Cape Bathurst, next to the Arctic Ocean, in Canada's Northwest Territories. They contain strata of hydrocarbons (oil shales), which have been burning continuously for centuries possibly since the last ice age. The fires result from autoignition of sulfur-rich lignite deposits. When the mineral deposits come in contact with oxygen they ignite. Coastline erosion leads to continuous exposure of new mineral deposits from the muds that are the underlying geology.

This is not volcanic activity. The sedimentary layers piled up under the sea and were deprived of oxygen. With the uprising in the land, the iron pyrite layers were exposed to air as the mud was removed through erosion. This is the only naturally occurring ignition of land. Temperatures of land near the vents range from 500℃/932℉ to 1200℃/2192℉.

Over time the sulfur dioxide from the smoke has acidified the shallow ponds in the tundra dotting the area, down to a pH lower than 2. Elevated concentrations of metals (aluminium, iron, zinc, nickel, manganese and cadmium) occur in these acidic ponds. Soils and sediments have also been chemically altered. The acidic biota in the ponds are characteristic of acidic environments worldwide, in contrast to the typical Arctic biota in adjacent alkaline ponds. The water on Smoking Hills has a PH of -2 and is the equivalent of battery acid. Needless to say, there were no zodiac landings at the Smoking Hills.