Name: Mount Erebus: The Fire of Antarctica - Lava Lakes & Ice Towers
Address: World

Mount Erebus is a volcano like no other. Standing as a lonely sentinel at the bottom of the world, it is the southernmost active volcano on Earth. Rising to 3,794 meters (12,448 feet) from the frozen Ross Sea, it dominates the landscape of Ross Island, a place of extreme cold, blinding white ice, and perpetual daylight in summer.

For scientists and explorers, Erebus is a holy grail. It is one of only a handful of volcanoes on the planet that possesses a persistent lava lake. This means that deep within its summit crater, a pool of molten magma has been churning and bubbling continuously for decades, a window into the plumbing system of our planet.

Geological Marvel: Fire and Ice

Erebus is a geological anomaly. It is the world’s type locality for phonolite lava, a rare, silica-undersaturated volcanic rock that is rich in sodium and potassium (alkali metals). Unlike the fluid, ropy basalt of Hawaiian volcanoes, phonolite is more viscous and explosive, yet Erebus maintains a open lava lake—a behavior usually associated with runny basalt.

The Persistent Lava Lake

Located in the Main Crater, the lava lake was first formally documented in 1972, though it has likely existed for much longer. It is one of only a handful of persistent lava lakes on Earth (others include Erta Ale in Ethiopia and Nyiragongo in DRC).

The Conveyor Belt: The lake is not a stagnant pool; it is a dynamic system. Magma rises from the deep conduit, degasses at the surface (releasing CO2, SO2, and HF), and then sinks back down in a convection cycle. Observers describe it as a “conveyor belt” of black, crusty plates continuously moving and subducting into the red-hot interior.
Strombolian Bombs: The lake is unpredictable. Large bubbles of gas (slugs) frequently rise to the surface and burst, throwing “Erebus Bombs”—blobs of molten lava up to several meters in diameter—high into the air. These bombs land on the crater rim with a distinctive “whomp” sound, posing a deadly hazard to researchers.

The Crystal Mountains

Because of the unique phonolitic chemistry, the old lava flows on Erebus are loaded with massive crystals of anorthoclase feldspar. As the lava weathers away, these crystals are left behind, covering the slopes in a glittering layer of “Erebus Crystals.” Visitors to the summit often crunch over millions of these feldspar gems, some as large as a human thumb.

The Ice Towers: A Biological Frontier

One of the most surreal and alien features of Erebus are the ice fumaroles.

Cathedrals of Ice

Volcanic steam escapes from hundreds of vents on the volcano’s flanks. In the brutal cold of Antarctica (where temperatures average -20°C in summer and plunge to -60°C in winter), this steam freezes instantly upon hitting the air. Over decades, this process builds delicate, hollow towers of ice around the vents. Some stand up to 10 meters (30 feet) tall, resembling chimneys, mushrooms, or cathedral spires. Inside, the environment is warm and humid—a tropical microclimate surrounded by polar ice.

Life in the Dark

These warm, moist caves are biological islands in a frozen ocean. Researchers from the University of Waikato and other institutions have discovered thriving communities of microbes inside the ice towers.

Extremophiles: The bacteria and fungi found here are oligotrophs—organisms that can survive on very low levels of nutrients. Some are unique to Erebus, feeding on minerals in the volcanic rock and the CO2 in the steam.
A Mars Analog: Because these organisms live in dark, energy-poor environments powered by geothermal heat, NASA studies them as a model for what life might look like on Mars or the icy moons of Jupiter (Europa) and Saturn (Enceladus). If life can thrive in the ice caves of Erebus, it could theoretically exist in the ice shells of other worlds.

History of Discovery: The Ross Expedition (1841)

The discovery of Mount Erebus is one of the great tales of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. In January 1841, the British Royal Navy officer Sir James Clark Ross pushed his two sturdy bomb vessels, the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, further south than anyone had ever gone before.

A Mountain of Fire

Breaking through the dense pack ice, they entered the open water now known as the Ross Sea. On January 28, 1841, they were stunned to see a massive mountain rising from the sea ice, billowing thick smoke and flame. It was an impossibility: an active volcano in the land of eternal ice. Ross named the active volcano after his flagship, Erebus (a Greek primordial deity representing deep darkness), and the smaller, extinct volcano to the east after his second ship, Terror.

The Irony of Names: The names were tragically prophetic. The HMS Erebus and HMS Terror would later disappear in the Arctic during the ill-fated Franklin Expedition of 1845, becoming two of the most famous ghost ships in history.

The Tragedy of Flight 901

For New Zealanders, Mount Erebus is synonymous with a national tragedy.

The Sightseeing Flights

In the late 1970s, Air New Zealand ran popular “flights to nowhere”—11-hour sightseeing loops from Auckland to Antarctica and back. Passengers sipped champagne while flying low over the Ross Ice Shelf, enjoying unparalleled views of the frozen continent.

November 28, 1979

Flight TE901, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10, departed Auckland with 237 passengers and 20 crew. due to a navigational coordinate error in the plane’s computer system, the flight path had been altered without the crew’s knowledge. Instead of flying down the empty McMurdo Sound (sea level), the new automated path took them directly toward Mount Erebus.

Sector Whiteout: As the pilot dropped to a lower altitude to give passengers a better view, they encountered “sector whiteout.” This is an optical illusion common in polar regions where flat white light creates a seamless horizon, making the ice-covered mountain indistinguishable from the ice shelf below. The pilots thought they were looking at a flat expanse of ice; in reality, they were looking directly at the face of the volcano.
The Crash: At 12:49 PM, the Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS) blared “WHOOP WHOOP PULL UP.” It was too late. Six seconds later, the DC-10 slammed into the northern slopes of Erebus at 260 knots. The impact disintegrated the aircraft, killing everyone on board instantly.

The Aftermath and Legacy

The recovery operation, known as Operation Overdue, was a harrowing ordeal for the New Zealand police and mountaineers who spent weeks on the volcano recovering bodies and identifying victims. The initial investigation blamed pilot error, but a subsequent Royal Commission inquiry led by Justice Peter Mahon famously cleared the crew, accusing the airline of an “orchestrated litany of lies” to cover up the navigation error. The wreckage remains on the mountain today, often buried by snow but occasionally revealed in hot summers, a permanent memorial designated as an Antarctic Specially Protected Area.

Modern Science: The MEVO Lab

Today, Erebus is the most intensely monitored volcano in Antarctica. The Mount Erebus Volcano Observatory (MEVO), established by Dr. Philip Kyle, has gathered a continuous dataset since 1972.

Living at Lower Erebus Hut (LEH)

Every austral summer (November to January), a team of scientists lives at Lower Erebus Hut, situated at 3,400 meters on the caldera rim. Life here is grueling.

The Conditions: Temperatures hover around -20°C to -30°C. The air is thin (65% of sea level pressure), causing altitude sickness (“Erebus Crud”) for unacclimatized researchers.
The Work: Teams deploy a network of seismometers, infrasound microphones, and gas analyzers. They use the volcano as a testbed for new technology.
The Robot Explorers: Because the inner crater is a death trap of crumbling cliffs and lava bombs, humans cannot descend to the lake. Instead, they send robots. The “Erebus Explorer” spider-bot and various drones have been used to sample gas directly from the lava lake plume, revealing that Erebus releases significant amounts of gold crystals in its gas—about 80 grams per day—though they are too microscopic to recover.

Conclusion

Mount Erebus is a paradox. It is a fiery heart beating in a frozen chest. It is a scientific muse that offers clues to the origins of Earth’s atmosphere and the potential for life on other planets. Yet, it is also a somber tomb, forever linked to the ghost ships it was named after and the modern tragedy of Flight 901. To stand on its rim, watching lava bubble against a backdrop of endless Antarctic ice, is to witness the raw, primal forces that shape our world.

Quick Facts

Location: Ross Island, Antarctica
Coordinates: 77.529° S, 167.153° E
Summit Elevation: 3,794 m (12,448 ft)
Volcano Type: Stratovolcano (Shield-like base)
Key Feature: Active Phonolite Lava Lake
Last Major Eruption: Continuously active since discovery in 1841
Nearest Base: McMurdo Station (US) and Scott Base (NZ) - approx. 35 km away.