![]() The ice tongue ranges 50 to 300 m (~164 to 984 ft) in thickness and stands 10 meters (33 feet) above the waterline. Where it flows into McMurdo Sound at sea level, an impressive 11-kilometer (~ 7 mile) long ice tongue protrudes into the sea as the annual snowfall exceeds the annual snowmelt. The average summit temperature is around -20˚C (-4˚F) during the summer and -50˚C (-58˚F) in the winter.Įrebus glacier extends down the lower flanks of the cone. The stratovolcano is 3794 meters (12,447 feet) above sea level. Volcanic eruptions are frequent, but the blasts are relatively mild and of the Strombolian-type. Continuous emissions of gas and steam provide just the right conditions for building towering columns of ice known as ice fumaroles. Sitting on a relatively thin continental crust, molten magma easily erupts on the surface, having originated from deep in the Earth’s interior. Terror) that make up the triangular-shaped island.Įrebus is the southernmost volcano in the world, and it is most famous for its lava lake and ice fumaroles. ![]() Mt Erebus is the largest and only active center of the four volcanic peaks (Mt. Located on the western half of Ross Island stands Mount Erebus – the tallest active volcano in Antarctica. Mount Erebus is the southernmost volcano in the world? Caption by Michon Scott, based on image interpretation by Ashley Davies, Jet Propulsion Laboratory.Did you know. NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using EO-1 ALI data provided courtesy of the NASA EO-1 Team. The volcano was erupting when British explorer Captain James Ross first observed it 1841, and it has shown continuous lava lake activity since 1972. Erebus is a stratovolcano composed of alternating layers of solidified ash, hardened lava, and rocks ejected by earlier eruptions. This Mount Erebus image shows a fairly typical level of activity for the volcano, including a molten lava lake and vapor emissions. ![]() Since that time, EO-1 has been successfully employed to detect other volcanic eruptions, including those near densely populated areas. Scientists who subsequently examined the data EO-1 acquired confirmed that a genuine thermal emission had been detected. After the initial detection, the satellite gave itself new orders to take fresh observations of the volcano several hours later. On May 7, 2004, the Autonomous Sciencecraft Experiment on EO-1 first demonstrated its ability to detect volcanic activity by sensing thermal emissions at Erebus. The larger image shows a true-color, photo-like view of the volcano, and the inset image shows thermal activity, highlighting the volcano’s molten lava lake. The larger image was acquired by the Advanced Land Imager (ALI), and the inset image was acquired by the Hyperion sensor. This image shows two views of Mount Erebus from February 6, 2009, captured by sensors on NASA’s Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite. In 2004, the reliable presence of a lava lake at this volcano’s summit made Mount Erebus the perfect place to test a self-directed satellite and sensor. The world’s southernmost volcano to show activity during recorded history, Erebus holds a lava lake and occasionally experiences explosive eruptions. Antarctica’s Mount Erebus may be covered with glaciers, but they do little to cool the volcano’s molten core.
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