Mt Erebus

Mt Erebus is the southern most active volcano. It's located on Ross Island in the Ross Sea near Antarctica and about 1.3 million years old. You can see it while at McMurdo Station. The elevation is 12,444 feet/ 3,794 m with a 90 foot in diameter lava lake in the summit crater. This makes Mt Erebus a rare volcano and only two others in the world are like it. The other 2 are in Erta Ale, Ethiopia and Nyiragongo in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Mt Erebus has been active since 1972 and in the last part of the 2005, blew up to 6 times per day spewing out hot rocks that volcanologists call 'bombs'. Most of these eruptions are small. The lava is also rare since most volcanoes have basalt lava. This is phonolite lava which is more explosive than basalt and contains the minerals feldspar and nepheline. Phonolite also contains rare gases - carbon dioxide, water, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, lead, arsenic and mercury - which all have have been found here in the ice cores at South Pole.

A volcanologist from New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology stated that the last time Mt Erebus blew continuously was in 1984, and tossed out bombs measuring 10 meters in width and as far 1 1/2 miles away. 2005 was the 3rd most active period.

Although there are researchers and scientists studying Mt Erebus, it is a difficult task since 8 months out of the year people cannot camp at the mountain side due to the extreme cold and wind. And what equipment that is left, is destroyed by the elements.

Mt Erebus seen from McMurdo

Crater of lava

Phonolite

bomb - this one is approximately a foot long

Smaller bombs collected by the Andrill team at McMurdo. The bigger ones are about hand/ palm size.