The mountain produces frequent strombolian style eruptions from a convecting phonolitic lava lake which is located at the bottom of the main Crater (Panter & Winter 2008). At least one plinian eruption has occurred from Mt Erebus within this time frame (Harpelet al. Within the last 95,000 years eruptive activity in the summit region of Mount Erebus has included lava flows, Small strombolian eruptions and at least one, possibly two caldera forming events. Mount Erebus is classed as an alkaline intraplate stratovolcano (Behrendt 1999) and has been produced by distinct volcanic phases (Esser, Kyle & McIntosh 2004). It dominates the landscape of Ross Island and its volcanic structure and the processes which have led to the formation of these features are discussed in this review with close reference to Esser, Kyle and McIntosh (2004). Mount Erebus is the Worlds southernmost active volcano and is 3794 meters high. Since then it has been studied extensively, and numerous papers have been Written on its geology. In 1972 yearly observations of the volcanoe's lava lake were begun (From Kyle 1982 as cited in Harpel et al. ROSS Island is the base for both New Zealand's Scott Base and the USAS McMurdo Station and this has resulted in the volcanoes frequent observation since 1956. It is located on Ross Island in the Ross Sea of Antarctica (Harpel et al. Mount Erebus was discovered in 1841 and for the moment it is the most active Volcano on the Antarctic continent. “Understanding the controls and geometry of magma movements might also improve regional exploration models for rare elements that we need for everyday life.This review aims to outline current geological knowledge surrounding the Mount Erebus Volcano and its association with the wider tectonic setting present in Antarctica. “Rift systems such as Mount Erebus have, in some geological intervals, emitted climate-forcing levels of carbon dioxide,” Wannamaker said. Wannamaker says the study of Lake Erebus-Lava is also helping geologists understand how rare chemical elements can move from the Earth’s mantle to the surface. The lava lake is thus regularly fed with melted rock, which may explain why Mount Erebus has frequent mild eruptions and its lava lake has persisted for decades, unlike water-rich volcanoes that erupt infrequently but explosively.

This keeps the magma thin and prevents it from getting stuck as it rises through the Earth’s crust. The magma contains a lot of carbon dioxide, which absorbs water from the melted rock, keeping it hot and dry.

Thus, small amounts of magma and carbon dioxide are brought to the surface in pulses, rather than in a continuous flow. Like a nozzle, it controls the flow of magma and gas upward into the lava lake.

Melted rock flows directly from the Earth’s mantle into the open lava lake via this so-called fault valve. “The two things we really saw were a fault valve that is controlling the episodic breakthrough of magma toward the surface, and second, we’re able to follow the magma continuously and completely right to the lava lake,” Wannamaker said. About 15 kilometers below the volcano, the tube narrows into a kind of valve and turns slightly to the East. Their results show a nearly vertical magma tube about 20 kilometers in diameter extending into the Earth’s mantle to a depth of about 100 kilometers. So Wannamaker and his team used naturally occurring electromagnetic waves to map the rocks of the Earth’s crust and mantle based on their electrical conductivity. Mount Erebus cannot be mapped via seismic waves like other volcanoes. “It’s one of the purest carbon dioxide-dominated volcanoes in the world.” “Erebus is an interesting volcano independent of it being in Antarctica,” Phil Wannamaker (✝ August 2022), a geologist at the University of Utah and co-author of the study, told The Antarctic Sun. The study, published in the journal Nature Communications, also produced the first 3D schematics of the magma chamber.Īnother special feature of Mount Erebus is that it has been active for millions of years and its magma carries more carbon dioxide than many other volcanoes. A research team has now discovered that Erebus’ lava lake is fed by a magma tube about 20 kilometers wide and extending to a depth of 100 kilometers. Few other volcanoes on Earth have a lava lake. Mount Erebus in Antarctica is the southernmost active volcano in the world, and a rather unusual one: its summit crater contains a permanent lava lake the size of a soccer field.

Mount erebus volcano