Antarctica's Mount Erubus Volcano

The Most Active Volcano in the Antarctic

Nov 1, 2009

Antarctica is most well-known for its glaciers and penguins, but this snow-covered continent is very much alive with geothermal and volcanic activity.

The Pacific Ring of Fire

Volcanic and geothermal activity on the Antarctic continent is actually the southernmost extension of the Pacific Ring of Fire. Mount Erubus is the southernmost active volcano in the world. This polygenetic stratovolcano is 12,448 feet high and is ranked the 34th highest mountain in the world. The term “polygenetic” means that the volcano’s shape cannot be strictly classified as one type or another. The bottom of Mount Erubus has gently sloping flanks like a shield volcano. The upper portions of Mount Erubus, however, are more steeply sided, like a stratovolcano.

Mount Erubus was discovered in 1841 by Antarctic explorer Sir James Clark Ross, who named it after one of his ships, the Erubus. Erubus is also the name of the greek god of darkness. When it was first discovered, it was actively emitting steam and gas. It has been periodically erupting since then and the current eruption began in 2008.

One of the unique characteristics of Mount Erubus is that it has a lava lake in the summit crater. The lava lake was first discovered in 1972 and grew to a size of about 60 meters in diameter until about 1976. It remained this size until 1984 when a large Strombolian-type eruption buried the lava lake with volcanic ejecta. The lake then reappeared in December of 1985 and grew to about 20 meters in diameter by the following year. Currently the lava lake is 160 meters in diameter and 100 meters deep.

This lava lake is one of the Earth’s few long-lived lava lakes and it is a persistent emitter of sulfur and carbon dioxide gases. There are also frequent and daily Strombolian eruptions originating from the lava lake that stay within the crater.

Mount Erubus Volcano Observatory

Research on Mt. Erebus has been primarily conducted by scientists in the Department of Earth and Environmental Science and the Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology. These scientists run the Mount Erubus Volcano Observatory, which conducts field work in the volcano from early December to early January (Antarctic’s austral summer). Current research focuses on 1.) monitoring sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide emissions from the lava lake, 2.) geochronology of summit and flank lava flows, 3.) monitoring of seismic and seismoacoustic activity, and 5.) monitoring the short- and long-term deformation of the volcano.

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