Active lava lake

Mount Erebus is a stratovolcano. It has been built from many layers of lava and ash over 1.3 million years. Inside the main crater, the temperatures range from -20°C in summer to -50°C in winter. A lava lake inside the main crater has been actively producing gas, steam, magma and pyroclastic rocks for more than half a century. The walls of the main crater are not accessible for sampling but there are hot soils around the rim.

This sustained volcanic activity, along with Antarctica’s frigid climate, makes Mount Erebus one of the most extreme environments on Earth.

Photo by Colin Monteath © Antarctica New Zealand Pictorial Collection, Number ANZSC1062.6, 1978–1979.