Erebus volcano and ice towers, antarctica. Volcanoes of Antarctica Are there active volcanoes in Antarctica
(G) (I)An excerpt characterizing the List of volcanoes in Antarctica
The next day, early in the morning, the decrepit Kutuzov got up, prayed to God, dressed, and with the unpleasant consciousness that he had to lead the battle, which he did not approve of, got into a carriage and drove out of Letashevka, five miles behind Tarutin, to the place where the advancing columns were to be assembled. Kutuzov rode, falling asleep and waking up and listening to see if there were shots on the right, was it starting to happen? But it was still quiet. The dawn of damp and cloudy was just beginning autumn day. Approaching Tarutin, Kutuzov noticed cavalrymen leading horses to a watering hole across the road along which the carriage was traveling. Kutuzov took a closer look at them, stopped the carriage and asked which regiment? The cavalrymen were from that column, which should have been already far ahead in the ambush. “A mistake, perhaps,” thought the old commander-in-chief. But, driving even further, Kutuzov saw infantry regiments, guns in the goats, soldiers for porridge and with firewood, in underpants. They called an officer. The officer reported that there was no order to march.- How not to ... - Kutuzov began, but immediately fell silent and ordered the senior officer to be called to him. Climbing out of the carriage, head down and breathing heavily, silently waiting, he paced back and forth. When the requested officer of the General Staff Eichen appeared, Kutuzov turned purple not because this officer was the fault of the mistake, but because he was a worthy subject for expressing anger. And, shaking, panting, the old man, having come into that state of rage into which he was able to come when he was lying on the ground from anger, he attacked Eichen, threatening with his hands, shouting and cursing in public words. Another who turned up, Captain Brozin, who was not guilty of anything, suffered the same fate.
- What kind of canal is this? Shoot the bastards! he shouted hoarsely, waving his arms and staggering. He experienced physical pain. He, the Commander-in-Chief, His Serene Highness, whom everyone assures that no one has ever had such power in Russia as he, he has been put in this position - he has been ridiculed in front of the entire army. “In vain did you bother so much to pray for this day, in vain did not sleep the night and thought about everything! he thought to himself. “When I was a boy officer, no one would have dared to make fun of me like that ... And now!” He experienced physical suffering, as from corporal punishment, and could not help but express it with angry and suffering cries; but soon his strength weakened, and, looking around, feeling that he had said a lot of bad things, he got into the carriage and silently drove back.
The anger that poured out did not return anymore, and Kutuzov, blinking his eyes weakly, listened to excuses and words of defense (Yermolov himself did not appear to him until the next day) and the insistence of Benigsen, Konovnitsyn and Tolya to make the same unsuccessful movement the next day. And Kutuzov had to agree again.
The next day, the troops gathered in the evening at the appointed places and marched out at night. It was an autumn night with black-purple clouds, but no rain. The ground was wet, but there was no mud, and the troops marched without noise, only the occasional strumming of artillery was faintly audible. It was forbidden to speak loudly, smoke pipes, make fire; the horses were kept from neighing. The mystery of the enterprise increased its attractiveness. The people were having fun. Some of the columns halted, put their guns on their racks, and lay down on the cold ground, believing that they had come to the right place; some (most) columns walked all night and, obviously, went in the wrong direction.
Count Orlov Denisov with the Cossacks (the most insignificant detachment of all others) alone got to his place and at his time. This detachment stopped at the extreme edge of the forest, on the path from the village of Stromilova to Dmitrovskoye.
Before dawn, Count Orlov, who had dozed off, was awakened. They brought in a defector from the French camp. It was a Polish non-commissioned officer of Poniatowski's corps. This non-commissioned officer explained in Polish that he defected because he was offended in the service, that it would be time for him to be an officer long ago, that he is the bravest of all and therefore abandoned them and wants to punish them. He said that Murat was spending the night a mile away from them, and that if they gave him a hundred people in an escort, he would take him alive. Count Orlov Denisov consulted with his comrades. The offer was too flattering to refuse. Everyone volunteered to go, everyone advised to try. After many disputes and considerations, Major General Grekov, with two Cossack regiments, decided to go with a non-commissioned officer.
Volcanoes of Antarctica
There are many volcanoes in Antarctica. Some of them (in particular, those located on the Antarctic islands) have erupted in the last 200 years. Due to the specificity of the climate and the low population of the southern mainland, most eruptions occurred without human witnesses and were recorded when volcanic activity came to an end, and sometimes retroactively. Only on Desension Island are research stations located in the area of one of the volcanoes.
At the top of Mount Melbourne, located opposite Ross Island, on the other side of McMurdo Bay, there are active fumaroles - cracks in the earth's crust that emit gas. The combination of steam and sub-zero temperatures created many brittle ice columns; in addition, despite the height, a unique bacterial flora has developed around the fumaroles.
In 1893, the Norwegian K. A. Larsen, traveling south on a rare route across the Weddell Sea, recorded seeing volcanic activity off Seal Nunatex. For many years, this observation was skeptical of geologists, who said that Larsen probably saw the cloud, but recent work has found traces of active fumaroles in the region. Volcanic eruption always makes an unforgettable impression, but the sharp contrast of molten lava and icy snow makes Antarctic eruptions especially spectacular.
James Clark Ross and Francis Crozier on their ships Erebus and Terror on January 9, 1841, overcame the pack ice and found themselves in the open water of the Ross Sea. Three days later they saw a rocky ridge, the peaks of which rose to 2500 m; it was subsequently named Admiralty Ridge by Ross. The ships continued to sail south, following the line of the mountains. On January 28, 1841, travelers were struck by the sight of - in the words of Robert McCormick, the ship's doctor on the Erebus - "a stunning volcano in an extremely active state." Located north of Ross Island, deep in the Ross Sea, the volcano was named "Mount Erebus" and the smaller, dormant cone to the east was named "Mount Terror". Erebus is considered the southernmost known active volcano.
In those old days, when the science of geology was experiencing its childhood, active volcano in the midst of the ice and snow of a frozen continent seemed extremely mysterious. Today, geologists are no longer surprised by such phenomena and can easily explain the presence of volcanoes, wherever they appear, - climatic conditions in this case are not essential. Volcanic rocks are often found in Antarctica, although from a geological point of view they are very ancient and represent the product of volcanic activity of those times when the continent did not yet occupy its modern polar position.
Volcanic rocks are an important indicator of the movement of continents, useful in determining the routes of ancient movements of continents across the surface of the globe. The geologically young McMurdo Volcanic Region in the Ross Sea region and the associated Mary Byrd Land Volcanoes simply point to recent continental shifts in Antarctica.
Mount Erebus - guarding the path to the South Pole - serves as a beacon for all travelers. Climbing the mountain inevitably became one of the goals of early explorers and climbers. During the expedition of Ernest Shackleton on the Nimrod in 1907-1909. a group of six led by 50-year-old Professor Edgeworth David climbed legendary mountain. On March 10, 1908, they reached the summit, 3794 m high, and discovered there a crater 805 m in diameter and 274 m deep, at the bottom of which there was a lake of molten lava. This lake still exists today, and Erebus is one of three volcanoes showing long-term lava lakes.
During the 1974–1975 season a geological party from New Zealand descended into the main crater and camped there, but volcanic activity prevented them from descending into the inner crater. On September 17, 1984, the volcano began to erupt again, throwing out liquefied fire "bombs". Currently, Erebus is still the subject of intensive geological research, but it attracts not only geologists. From transport ships and planes bound for US McMurdo Station and ships bound for the historic Scott and Shackleton lodges, good weather great views open up. Naturalists, travelers and just risk-takers cannot resist the urge to photograph a volcano mountain, and in the old days, romantic conquerors of the South Pole felt the need to capture what they saw in the picture. Some of the best works belonged to the brushes of Edward Wilson, a doctor and naturalist who participated in both expeditions of Scott. Botanists are particularly interested in the Tramway Ridge, high on the slopes of the mountain, where rich vegetation has developed in the area of fumaroles on warm soil.
This text is an introductory piece. From the book In the mountains and on the glaciers of Antarctica author Bardin Vladimir IgorevichMap of Antarctica Gradually, the contours of the maps created by our detachment begin to appear more and more clearly. But not all parts of the mountainous country can be reached by plane. Where the surface of the ice is covered with cracks, littered with boulders, the plane cannot land. Rescues position
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Mount Erebus is located in the vast expanses of the South Pole, Antarctica. This volcano is located to the south of all other active objects of this type. The height of Erebus is 3794 meters. The diameter of the object's crater is 805 meters, and the depth of the volcano's crater is 274 meters.
The exact coordinates of the location of Erubus (Antarctica) are 72 degrees, 32 minutes south latitude; 162 degrees, 17 minutes East. This is the territory of Ross Island, which has three more volcanoes. All volcanoes except Erebus have already gone out.
Activity Observations
Regular volcanic activity of Erebus has been observed since 1972. The US Institute of Mining and Technology, located in New Mexico, organized a special station that monitors the activity of the volcano.
On the territory of the volcano, you can observe a unique natural phenomenon. Mount Erebus has a one-of-a-kind lake of real lava.
The volcano was discovered on January 28, 1841. Erebus was found during the mission of the expedition from England. The project leader was the famous English scientist James Clark Ross. The event was attended by two ships Erebus and Terror. For the first time, the conquest of the edge of the top of an active volcano occurred during the expedition, the purpose of which was to conquer the expanses of the South Pole. Six brave explorers, led by Ernest Shackleton, conquered the summit of Erebus on 03/10/1908.
The ship Erebus, and later the volcano of the same name, received their names in honor of Erebus, the great deity from ancient Greek culture. This god was born in Chaos.
The coordinates of Erebus coincide with the coordinates of the intersection of faults in the Earth's crust. great volcano is considered to be the most active object of volcanic activity. Faults in the crust entail negative consequences. From the faults there is a powerful release of gases emanating from the bowels of the globe. Among the huge amount of emitted gases, hydrogen and methane are worth noting.
These gases, reaching the level of the Stratosphere, have a negative impact on the ozone layer and contribute to its destruction. The minimum thickness of the protective layer of the Earth is exactly at the location of Lake Ross, where famous volcano Erebus.
One of major air crashes occurred due to the fact that a DC-10 passenger plane flying over a volcano collided with its surface. As a result of the collision, 257 people died, 200 of whom were citizens of New Zealand. The accident happened on November 28, 1978. The aircraft was moving according to route NZ 901. The aircraft belonged to airlines Air new zealand, New Zealand.
Erebus is the most active volcano on the planet. Scientists constantly record minor volcanic activity on Erebus. The last large-scale eruption was recorded in 2011.
Volcano group
Erebus belongs to the group of Stratovolcanoes - multi-layered objects of volcanic activity, having the shape of a cone. Most often, such objects consist of solidified lava, tephra, and volcanic ash. Erebus has a high altitude and steep mountain slopes, characteristic of stratovolcanoes. This volcano often erupts in the form of explosions. Like all stratovolcanoes, Erebus erupts rather viscous and thick lava, which quickly solidifies and does not have time to spread to large areas of the earth's surface.
Erebus explosions are very dangerous for humanity. Since the magma erupting from a volcano is very thick and it solidifies before it reaches the surface of the volcano's crater, gas leaks from the magma, which causes it to explode.
During the eruption, the volcano emits:
- Volcanic ash, which not only affects the atmosphere, but also poses a threat to flights air transport in the disaster zone. During the flight over the stratovolcano eruption zone, there is practically no visibility, therefore there is a high risk of collision with various objects. It is possible to stop the engine of the aircraft;
- Volcanic mud, consisting of volcanic rocks and water. The mud stream moves quite quickly and has an impressive height, so it is extremely difficult to hide from it;
- Lava, which does not pose a particular threat to humanity, since the flow of magma moves rather slowly and quickly freezes.
Mount Erebus is a unique creation of mother nature. This majestic and formidable object of volcanic activity has a special mystery and beauty. It captivates and leaves an unforgettable impression. Especially memorable is the mysterious magma lake, which is located in the crater of Erebus. Perhaps this volcano is not the most safe place on the planet, but he is undoubtedly its decoration.
The ice sheet of Antarctica hides a large system of volcanoes, comparable to those in eastern Africa and in North America. Over the years of studying Antarctica, scientists have discovered 47 volcanoes. Now, experts from the University of Edinburgh have discovered a cluster of 91 more volcanoes 2 km below the level of the West Antarctica ice sheet. They talked about the discovery in a publication on website Geological Society of London.
“If any of these volcanoes erupt, it will destabilize the glaciers in the west of Antarctica.
Anything that can cause ice to melt, and especially a volcanic eruption, will result in an outflow of melted ice into the sea. So the big question is how active these volcanoes are.
We need to find out as soon as possible,” says glaciologist Robert Bingham, one of the authors of the study.
To detect volcanoes, researchers using radars installed on aircraft and ground vehicles, studied the surface of the continent hidden under the ice. Next, they compared the obtained data with satellite images and information already available in the databases.
The height of the volcanoes found by specialists is from 100 to 2850 m, the diameter is from 1600 to 5400 m. All of them are covered with a layer of ice, the thickness of which reaches 4 km, and occupy an area of 3500 km in the west of Antarctica, from the Ross Ice Shelf to the Antarctic Peninsula .
“We didn’t expect to find something like this,” says Bingum. - Now the number famous volcanoes nearly tripled in Antarctica.
We also suspect that there are many volcanoes under the Ross Glacier. This region may have the largest concentration of volcanoes in the world.”
Researchers have not yet been able to determine if any of the new volcanoes are active. Nevertheless, they hope that their work will serve as the basis for further research, during which it will be possible to find out.
Nor are they inclined to believe that past volcanic activity could have had any effect on modern glacier retreat. However, she may play a role in their retreat in the future. So, for example, it happened in Iceland - the temperature increased due to volcanic activity contributed to the melting of ice. Other problems are also possible - a decrease in ice thickness per kilometer can trigger volcanic activity, which is also observed in Iceland.
On the other hand, the very presence of volcanic cones can slow down the movement of glaciers. Ice moves down until there are no obstacles in its path, and volcanoes can just become such an obstacle for it.
As the team notes, it was possible to find several volcanoes, which may have already become a significant deterrent in the past and will serve them in the future.
Recall that a month ago, in the west of Antarctica, from the Larsen C glacier, a giant iceberg weighing 1 trillion tons and an area of 6 thousand square meters. km, which is comparable to a quarter of the territory of Wales. The breakaway of the iceberg, named A68, has been awaited by scientists since 2011, when the crack was first discovered. The cleavage stretched for almost 200 km, separating the iceberg from the main body of the glacier in 10% of its area. According to, an iceberg can last for decades.
The glacier itself is collapsing. Satellite images show that the cracks on it are increasing. They formed before A68 broke off, and scientists didn't know which line would split.
Now 11 more icebergs have formed near the fault line, the largest of which reaches 10 km in length.
Iceberg A68, meanwhile, has already moved away from the glacier by 5 km. Scientists are concerned that it may break into smaller pieces.
When the sailing ships Erebus and Terror approached a continuous strip of ice, the members of the expedition saw, far to the south, a tall white cone, from which clouds of smoke rose. Captain James Ross was sure he had found Antarctica, but it was still only a volcanic island.
The southernmost and most active volcano in Antarctica
Erebus is the second highest and most active volcano in Antarctica. Above - only the extinct Sidley (4285 m) on Mary Byrd Land.
Erebus is not located on the continental part of Antarctica, but on the large (2460 km 2) Ross Island, and this is by no means the only volcano on it. The island was generally lucky with volcanoes: in addition to Erebus, it has an extinct shield Terror (3230 m) about a million years old and a couple of lower volcanoes - Terra Nova (2130 m) and Bird (1765 m).
Mount Erebus is an intra-plate volcano belonging to the McMurdo Volcanic Group, part of the West Antarctic Rift System. Magma under Erebus rises from the upper mantle at a rate of about 6 cm/yr.
The volcano is based on volcanic rocks: basalt, trachyte, phonolite and tuff. From above, they are covered with glaciers that descend to the ocean. Most big tongue- thickness from 50 to 300 m. Approaching the shore, it descends into the water and stays on its surface: in this place it is quite deep. In summer, the ice melts, and the broken parts of the glacier form icebergs. Waves also break through caves in the glacier, where the temperature is around 0°C and the humidity is 100%, which contributes to the formation of huge icicles, similar to stalactites, and large ice crystals.
The most famous of these ice cavities has earned its own name - Warren Cave, created by vapors from a volcano. Its bottom is wet, soft soil and rocks, and its walls are ice. Researchers say that in its depths - pitch darkness, and when the flashlights are turned on, the black walls turn into a colorful kaleidoscope of flying sparks.
The crater of the volcano is a caldera with a diameter of about a kilometer, in which there are constantly active fumaroles and geysers. At its bottom is a crater of a smaller diameter, about a kilometer deep, and in it is a lake of molten lava. Erebus is one of several volcanoes on Earth whose lake of molten kenite (a type of phonolite) has existed for quite a long time - several decades. Erebus is the only active volcano on Earth that erupts kenite magma at a temperature of + 900 ° C, this rock in the solid state is also found in the mountains of Kenya (hence the name).
The underground source of magma, which feeds it into the crater of the Erebus volcano, was common to all other volcanoes on the island, which have now become extinct. It is a lake of magma with a diameter of up to 300 km, located at a depth of about 200 km. Below it takes the form of a vertical channel, descending to a depth of 400 km.
According to the nature of the eruption, Erebus is referred to as the "Strombolian" type, named after the volcano in the Tirenian Sea. This means that a sluggish eruption lasts continuously, the volcano remains constantly ready for a stronger, but shorter eruption. The last one was observed in 2011.
During eruptions, clouds of steam are observed, accompanied by rare emissions of ash and volcanic bombs with a diameter of up to 10 m, which fall around Erebus within a radius of one and a half kilometers. At the moments of the eruption, spouting geysers also manifest themselves. In this case, lava is expelled from the lake or one of several openings within the inner crater of the volcano, and the lava remains inside the caldera and does not splash out of it.
Erebus is located at the intersection of faults in the earth's crust, from which, according to volcanologists, powerful emissions of deep gases, including hydrogen and methane, periodically occur. Reaching the stratosphere, they destroy the ozone layer, which is why its minimum thickness is observed exactly above where the Erebus volcano is located.
These bright natural disasters look very picturesque against the background of the ice shell of Antarctica. And they do not in the least frighten a colony of half a million Adélie penguins living on the ice of Ross Island.
Careful study unique volcano its relative proximity to the main Antarctic scientific stations of the USA (McMurdo) and New Zealand (Scott Bays), which are about 35 km away from it, contributes.
Volcano discovery
"A stunning volcano in an extremely active state," was how the expedition's ship's doctor, James Ross, described it. Subsequently, it turned out that Erebus is able not only to cause delight, but also to inspire horror.
For the first time, this volcano appeared to the eyes of a person on January 27, 1841, when two sailboats approached the shores of the island on which it is located (this was the last distant polar expedition on an exclusively sailing ships) English expedition led by James Clark Ross (1800-1862). Ross commanded the ship "Erebus", officer Francis Crozier (1796-1848) the ship "Terror". It was the famous British Antarctic expedition of 1839-1843.
Ross happened to arrive at the shores of the island on that rather rare day when Erebus erupted. Seeing two huge ice mountains, Ross briefly thought about what names to give them, naming them after his battered Antarctic waves, but faithfully served ships. And he put on the map the names of the volcanoes Erebus and Terror.
James Ross considered the island to be part of the mainland due to the continuous ice cover. Therefore, he depicted it on the map connecting with the continental area - Victoria Land. Only in 1901 did the English explorer Robert Scott (1868-1912) establish that it was an island. He also named the sea off the coast of Antarctica and the island after the discoverer - James Ross.
The first ascent of Erebus was made by members of the British expedition of Ernest Shackleton (1874-1922), whose goal was to reach the geographic South Pole. Shackleton did not reach the Pole: the expedition was poorly prepared, and he was forced to turn, not having reached the goal of only 180 km. But even before that, he decided to conquer the top of the volcano before the beginning of the polar night. Shackleton himself did not climb Erebus, six of his people went, who had no experience in climbing mountains. Surprisingly, but true: in a few days they reached the top, spent four hours on it, made some scientific measurements. They went down quickly: people just slid down the icy slopes, like from a children's slide. The adventure was a success: everyone survived, although they were barely alive from hunger and frostbite. How miraculous all this was is evidenced by the fact that the first solo ascent Erebus was only completed in 1985.
From a scientific point of view, Mount Erebus has a number of advantages for scientists: due to the fact that it is relatively low and has been constantly active since 1972, long-term seismological studies can be carried out close to the crater. Every year from November to January, scientists climb to the top for active field work.
There is life in the caldera of Erebus itself. The slopes of the volcano are covered with fumaroles, which in Antarctic conditions take the form of ice pipes about 20 m high, sticking out here and there along the entire surface of the crater. The internal heat of the mountain melts the snow and ice, forming a "chimney", and the steam escaping from there freezes on contact with air. Here, on the smooth surface of the solidified lava, covered with ice from frost, there is a relict biocenosis: moss and algae with microorganisms. "Chimneys" are specially protected areas, only scientists are allowed here.
On November 28, 1979, it was not a volcanic explosion that disturbed the silence of Ross Island. New Zealand Airlines Flight 901 was carrying passengers touring the beauties of Antarctica, including Erebus. These flights have been made for two years now. This time, in foggy conditions, the DC-10 crashed into the slope of the volcano. As a result of the disaster, 257 people died. The unidentified remains of the victims are buried at Waikumete Memorial Cemetery in West Oakland, New Zealand. When the short Antarctic summer comes, the wreckage of an aircraft appears from under the snow ...
general information
Location : Ross Island, Ross Sea, West Antarctica.Coordinates: 77°32′00″ S sh. 167°17′00″ E / 77.533333°S sh. 167.283333° E d.
Type: stratovolcano.
Status: active.
open: 1841
First ascent : 1908
Last eruption : 2011
Nearest Antarctic stations : McMurdo (USA), Scott Base (New Zealand).
Numbers
Height: 3794 m.Crater: diameter - 805 m, depth - 274 m.
Age: 1.3 Ma.
Climate and weather
Antarctic marine.January average temperature : -3°C.
July average temperature : -27°C.
Average annual rainfall : about 100 mm.
Average annual relative humidity : 60-80%.
Attractions
Natural
- Volcanoes Terror, Terra Nova and Bird
- Glaciers and ice caves
- Caldera
- lava lake
- Fumaroles - "chimneys"
- Adélie penguin colony
historical
- Robert Scott's Cabin (Cape Evans, 1910-1913)
- Commemorative cross for deceased members of the British Imperial Transantarctic Expedition (Cape Evans, 1916)
Curious facts
Ross's ship was named after Erebus, the ancient Greek god, the son of Chaos and the personification of Eternal Darkness. From Erebus himself came the gods of Death (Thanatos), Retribution (Nemesis), Strife (Eris), and also Charon, the carrier of the souls of dead people to Hades across the River of Oblivion (Lethe). The name of the second ship "Terror" in Latin means fear or horror. By naming their ships like that, sailors challenged the elements. In the case of these two courts, the elements won. In 1845, while making an expedition in search of the Northwest Passage from the Atlantic to Pacific Ocean, both ships went missing, and with them the participant in the discovery of Erebus, Captain Crozier. The remains of the ship "Erebus" were found only in 2014, and "Terror" - in 2016.
Ross Island and, accordingly, Mount Erebus located on it, are part of the Ross territory, which is claimed by New Zealand. " Dependent territory Ross” - the Antarctic sector, in 1923 transferred by Great Britain to the administration of the Kingdom of New Zealand. The Queen of New Zealand is Elizabeth II, but the “kingdom” itself has a purely symbolic status, designed to emphasize the historical and spiritual closeness of the metropolis and the former colony. In 1961, the Antarctic Treaty signed by New Zealand came into force, according to which the country formally renounced claims to this sector. Among the countries that have reserved the right to make such claims are Peru, Russia, the United States and South Africa.
The ships of the expedition of James Ross belonged to the class of the so-called "bombardier": during their construction, the main attention was paid to strength, so that the recoil when firing from heavy mortar bombers would not loosen the ship's mounts. Such a design of the ship helped to withstand the strongest pressure of pack ice, but the side was still reinforced with an additional layer of "ice" plating.
On the same Ross Island where Erebus is located, the Church of the Snows was built in 1956: a non-denominational Christian church. Her condition is looked after by the staff of the American Antarctic station McMurdo. And today it remains the southernmost religious building in the world. Catholic Masses are celebrated by a visiting prelate from New Zealand, and Protestant services are led by an Air Force National Guard chaplain. In the same building, rituals of Mormons, Buddhists, Bahais, etc. are held.
