These are fumaroles, we call them ice towers. (gentle music) - Sort of like a hollow, upside down icicle. While the most visible activity is at the crater, we're actually standing right next to another scientific marvel. That's how the volcano was built, one lava flow at a time. It's just off-gassing a little bit at a time, and you can see from looking around that it has had eruptive periods that have lava flow associated with them. It's not building up a ton of pressure so it's not like Mount St. They're relatively small eruptions, and release the pressure from inside the volcano.īut these small eruptions are also what keeps McMurdo safe, since pressure is released in small spurts instead of big disasters. Strombolian eruptions get their name from the Stromboli volcano in Italy, which regularly has this type of eruption. That's where a volcano just builds up some pressure on the inside and then it goes pop, and it blows a bunch of lava out the top of it. It actually has pretty regular Strombolian eruptions. Turns out, getting to the crater rim can be treacherous for another reason, too. It's not so bad being up there, but you have to hike another 2000 feet, uphill. And we're not even at the summit where much of the science is done. It took me a little while to realize he was actually suffering from altitude sickness. At first, I thought Arlo was just spellbound by the view or something. I felt dizzy, I started to have tunnel vision, and I was completely zoned out. (laughs) - When I got off the helicopter, the first thing I noticed was that something wasn't right. The first thing I notice when I get out of the helicopter, my snot is freezing. This is probably the coldest weather I've ever been in in my entire life. Today, we're landing on the flanks of the volcano with Jessie Crane, who's spent three seasons studying the volcanic gases on Mount Erebus. It's one of only eight volcanoes in the world that has one.Īnd this is one of the reasons scientists want to come here. Sometimes you can spot a bubbling lava lake. At Erebus's summit is a crater billowing with gas, mostly water vapor and carbon dioxide from the volcano. When I open the window to take photographs, my fingers go numb.Įxtreme cold at this altitude is no joke. So we use canisters of oxygen to help us breathe. The volcano is 12 1/2 thousand feet high.

The remnants of what can happen if we do are still visible. Conditions have to be perfect to fly up to Mount Erebus because we do not want to get stuck up there in bad weather. We've been here two weeks trying to get this flight off. We've been delayed over and over and over again. So, flying is the only practical way to get there. Ross Island is a volcanic island made up of jagged rock, treacherous glaciers, and cracks that can be hard to find. (upbeat music) - Almost everywhere we went, the volcano loomed over us. Mount Erebus is located on Ross Island, just a few miles from the largest research station in Antarctica, McMurdo Station. It's the most extreme Antarctic Extreme. It just makes you get a sense of how small you are in the grand scheme of things. So it's this pretty hulking mass of a volcano. The southernmost active volcano in the world. There is hot magma right pretty much beneath our feet.

Waters near mount erebus