Antarctica Erupts!
A trip to Mount Erebus yields a rare, close-up look at one of the world's weirdest geological marvels
- By Laura Helmuth
- Photographs by George Steinmetz
- Smithsonian magazine, December 2006, Subscribe
George Steinmetz was drawn to Mount Erebus, in Antarctica, by the ice. The volcano constantly sputters hot gas and lava, sculpting surreal caves and towers that the photographer had read about and was eager to see. And though he'd heard that reaching the 12,500-foot summit would be an ordeal, he wasn't prepared for the scorching lava bombs that Erebus hurled at him.
Steinmetz, 49, specializes in photographing remote or harsh places. You're almost as likely to find him in the Sahara as at his home in Glen Ridge, New Jersey. Thanks to his expedition to Erebus last year, funded by the National Science Foundation, he's one of the few photojournalists to document up close one of the world's least-seen geological marvels. Most of his photographs were taken during the soft twilight that passes for night during the polar summer.
The flanks of Erebus are spiked with ice towers, hundreds of them, called fumaroles. Gas and heat seeping through the side of the volcano melt the snowpack above, carving out a cave. Steam escaping from the cave freezes as soon as it hits the air, building chimneys as high as 60 feet.
The scientists who work on Mount Erebus say that its ice caves are every bit as much fun to explore as you might expect. But the scientists are more interested in the volcano's crater, with its great pool of lava—one of the few of its kind. Most volcanoes have a deep central chamber of molten rock, but it's typically capped by cooled, solid rock that makes the hot magma inaccessible. On Mount Erebus, the churning magma is exposed at the top of the volcano, in a roiling 1,700-degree Fahrenheit lake perhaps miles deep. "The lava lake gives us a window into the guts of the volcano," says Philip Kyle, a volcanologist at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology.
Mount Erebus looms over the United States' main research base in Antarctica, McMurdo Station, on Ross Island. Most of the year scientists monitor the volcano remotely, gathering data from seismometers, tilt meters, GPS signals, video cameras and microphones. They helicopter the 20 miles from McMurdo to Erebus at the beginning of the six-week field season, which lasts from mid-November to early January, when the temperature on the mountain can reach a balmy -5 degrees. Still, winds can whip at 100 miles per hour, and blizzards and whiteouts are common. The researchers often get stuck in their research camp—two 16- by 24-foot huts at 11,400 feet elevation—waiting for the weather to clear. Out of the eight days that Steinmetz spent on the volcano, he was able to work for only two.
On their first clear day, Steinmetz and Bill McIntosh, also of New Mexico Tech, rode snowmobiles up to the crater's rim. As they headed back down, Mount Erebus spattered lava over the area they'd just explored. "It looked like shotgun blasts," says Steinmetz. "There were puffs of hot steam where the lava bombs hit." Kyle, who has been monitoring the volcano for more than 30 years, says it had recently broken a two-year quiet spell. Mount Erebus had started acting up in early 2005, and when scientists arrived it was erupting several times a day, each time ejecting 50 or so lava bombs. The largest are about ten feet wide—great blobs of bubbly lava that collapse like failed soufflés when they land, some almost a mile away.
Erebus and the rest of the continent will come under more scrutiny than usual in 2007, as scientists head to the ends of the earth for the fourth International Polar Year since 1882. They'll try out new monitoring techniques, study how Antarctica and the Arctic influence worldwide weather, and probe what kind of life could exist in the extreme cold and winter-long dark of the poles.
Mount Erebus' ice caves are among the most promising places for undiscovered life in Antarctica. Though they grow or shrink depending on how much heat the volcano emits, inside they maintain a temperature of about 32 degrees. Says McIntosh: "The caves are wonderful because they're so warm."
George Steinmetz's photographs of Peruvian pyramids and Mexican cave paintings have appeared in Smithsonian. Senior editor Laura Helmuth specializes in science.
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Comments (24)
Fabulous! I was hanging on every word! Thanks!
Posted by Michelle on February 1,2013 | 11:19 PM
THIS IS GREAT I am doing a 5th grade project and this helped lots
Posted by BUFFALO on May 7,2012 | 09:28 PM
this is so cool!!!this is going to help alot for my 6th grade progect
Posted by kainoa on September 24,2010 | 07:47 PM
I agree w/ adri. i have a science project as well
Posted by Tj Tek on August 13,2010 | 09:19 PM
MOUNT EREBUS IS SO SCARRY
Posted by on December 18,2009 | 03:04 PM
thanx alot this has helped me alot with my yr7 assinment
Posted by harley symons on November 3,2009 | 01:26 AM
i agree w/ Adri, i need more info, i dont have enough 4 my science project either
Posted by someone special on October 23,2009 | 08:23 AM
this website was pretty helpful, but there isn't anything about eruptions. well, let me rephrase that. i'm doing a science project on this volcano, and although this helped a little, i wasn't as immpressed as most people were who were posting comments. i do like this website though. it's very straigh forward.
Posted by Adri on October 14,2009 | 09:58 PM
this is are really great site to go on
Posted by lucy Tukaki-Johnson on September 1,2009 | 10:52 PM
Looks fantastic. Based on the information provided, the volcano appears to be more of a Hawaiian shield type than an explosive pacific rim type. Are there any issues with poisonous gasses in the caves or near the volcano? Has any more detailed investigations been performed on the history of this volcanic area?
Posted by david kruchek on September 1,2009 | 01:57 PM
does the volcano emit carbon dioxide ?
Posted by bob mattscheck on August 9,2009 | 04:48 PM
when was the most destructive eruption of mount erebus?
Posted by Mark on May 14,2009 | 01:28 PM
holy cow! antarctica? seriously! that is awesome!
Posted by Kelli on April 28,2009 | 08:42 AM
We didn't believe that there was an actual vocano in the the Antartica but the video madue us believe the information. We learned alot at this website.
Posted by Mrs. Jedlinski's Class on April 22,2009 | 09:46 AM
Its like totaly awesome!!!! Yo!
Posted by Jack on March 31,2009 | 01:35 AM
AWSOME PICTURES!!!
Posted by edd on March 30,2009 | 11:57 AM
THANKSSS This helped me so much on my report!!1
Posted by M on March 23,2009 | 04:03 PM
kool. but when was Mt. Erebus deadliest eruption?
Posted by tori on March 19,2009 | 04:10 PM
When was the last time Mount Erebus erupted. I am doing a project on the geography of Antarctica and I would like to include that information but the site does not say when the last time it erupted was.
Posted by Lee on March 1,2009 | 12:51 AM
I'm an eight grader and I am ddoing a report on Mt. Erebus. This is a really interesting site. I would like to see more pictures and more information about its eruptions.
Posted by Amelia Jay McDonald on February 22,2009 | 08:23 AM
hey thanks for the info but when was the last eruption of myt erebus because other websites say that it erupted in 2008 (in or after) could you post that sometime soon plz it would help me a lot with my report!!! Thanks and besides that the info was cool and amazing and i wish i could see it in person!!!!!!
Posted by Lindsey on February 10,2009 | 06:01 PM
WOW! This is really interesting:] I'm doing a report on this right now(:
Posted by Kiara on February 3,2009 | 06:29 PM
Thanks.this website gave me lots of information for my project.
Posted by ragini.g on November 24,2008 | 10:09 AM
it is my first time watching valcano really well
Posted by on May 13,2008 | 04:37 AM
Just read "Subterranean" by James Rollins, which is set 2 miles deep, under the surface of Mt. Erebus. Great read! And did I say "suspense"?!
Posted by D on May 2,2008 | 09:48 PM
it is very helpful on a report
Posted by randy on April 29,2008 | 10:00 AM
We just had a lecture on Antarctic and Arctic ecosystems and their sensitivity to global environmental problems such as climate change and ozone depletion. This makes sense as our Professor gave us an insight of this cold continnent. Lovely sight indeed Jhonnah
Posted by Jhonnah Mundike on April 2,2008 | 02:23 PM
This website was brilliant! It helped me out on vital atatistics for my year 9 Key Stage 3 coursework, thanks and lots of luck to keep this website operational! London, U.K.
Posted by Abraham on March 8,2008 | 02:44 PM
This website helped me out on my volcano report for 8th grade. I hope you explore more!
Posted by Nicole on February 26,2008 | 04:25 PM
thankx this website on Mt.Erebus gave me alot of information it helped me in my 5th grade report on Mt.Erebus =]
Posted by Fairuza on January 9,2008 | 10:43 PM
This is so very interesting, my son slept within sight of this volcano for 6 months three times while he was in the Navy. They were told that if the volcano erupted they would have less then 1/2 hour to get off the ice shelf. No much time.
Posted by Sally on December 12,2007 | 07:46 PM
I spent the summers of 1963& 1965 working out on the Ice shelf for a Navy lab. I would like to see some more pictures of Mt. Erebus.
Posted by Gene McMahan on December 12,2007 | 02:46 PM