Geographical Association

©Dr J Smellie/British Antarctic Survey

This image shows Mount Erebus, an active volcano on Ross Island in Antarctica.

Mount Erebus has a summit elevation of nearly 4km and is the most southerly active volcano in Antarctica.

It was built up by eruptions through the 700m-thick Ross Ice Shelf and has been active for 1 million years.

Although partly clothed in a relatively thin cover of snow and ice, Mount Erebus is built mainly of numerous lava flows with an unusual composition, called phonolite.

The prominent shoulders and flat summit were formed when the entire summit area collapsed, creating a wide, shallow hole (a caldera - similar to a very large crater) about 5km in diameter. After the collapse, eruptions gradually filled up the caldera and built a small cone with a crater containing a permanent lake of molten lava (you can see two columns of volcanic steam rising from this lava lake).

The volcano erupts frequently, mainly just a few bombs of molten rock, but small lava flows are also likely and were observed by James Clark Ross in 1841.

However, ash is frequently discovered in Antarctic ice more than 200km away, indicating that explosive eruptions may also occur.

This image can be used as a focus for questions and activities on the natural processes that have formed the volcano and the potential threats to Antarctica as one of the world's last remaining wilderness regions.

• What might there be at the top of this mountain?
• What natural processes have formed this landscape?
• Can you discover the name of the crustal or tectonic plate on which this volcano stands?
• This continent has been designated as a 'natural reserve devoted to peace and science'. Why do you think this is?
• What are the potential economic activities of this area? How might they affect the area if they were to be developed?
• What difficulties does this environment present to the development of this region?

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