Hooker ran to grab his notebook and quickly wrote down his reaction: “ All the coast one mass of dazzling beautiful peaks of snow which, when the sun approached the horizon, reflected the most brilliant tints of golden yellow and scarlet and then to see the dark cloud of smoke, tinged with flame, rising from the volcano in a perfectly unbroken column, one side jet-black, the other giving back the colors of the sun….This was a sight so surpassing everything that can be imagined…that it really caused a feeling of awe to steal over us at the consideration of our own comparative insignificance and helplessness, and at the same time, an indescribable feeling of the greatness of the Creator in the works of His hand“. Robert McCormick, the surgeon, described the discovery as “ a stupendous volcanic mountain in a high state of activity“. ![]() Here is an interesting description of the awe it inspired in these early explorers. Antarctic Program’s McMurdo Station.Įrebus was first discovered by James Clark Ross and named after his ship. Today Ross Island is home to New Zealands Scott Base and also the largest Antarctic settlement, the U.S. ![]() These are still standing and are now preserved as historical sites. Scott and Shackleton both built huts on the island as bases for their polar expeditions. It was very suitable as a base for explorations as it is the southernmost island reachable by sea. Ross Island was the base for many of the early expeditions to Antarctica. Ross did however name the two largest volcanoes on the Island after the names of his two expedition ship, the Erebus and Terror. It was discovered in 1841 by Sir James Clark Ross who perhaps not realising it was an island did not name it after himself, the naming of the island in honour of him came many years later by the polar explorer Robert Falcon Scott. ![]() Because the ice sheet is so thick and persistent it appears as if it is part of Antarctica. Mount Erubus is situated on Ross Island which was formed by four volcanoes in the Ross Sea, only one of which Erebus is still active today. Map showing the four volcanos of Ross Island. Quite a height when you consider this volcano rises from sea level. The summit of Mount Erebus rises to 3,794 metres of 12,447 feet. Although this activity has been noted since 1972 it is more than likely that it has occurred for most of the volcanoes recent history, because the volcano was active when discovered in 1841 and also when other later explorations took place. We see above in the Nasa picture the lava lake which has been monitored since 1972, this activity has been continuous since then with many minor explosions and occasional larger strombolian explosions that throw up lava bombs to the rim of the crater. Mount Erebus overlooks the McMurdo research station on Ross Island and is the largest of three major volcanoes on the island. Inside the crater is a persisting lava lake and shows up well in the NASA satellite image above. It is is currently the most active volcano in Antarctica and is the current eruptive zone of the Erebus hotspot. The bottom half of the volcano is a shield and the top half is a stratocone. Mount Erebus is classified as a polygenetic stratovolcano. ![]() When I discovered that a cousin of my grandfather had joined Shackleton’s Trans-Antarctic expeditionof 1914 to 1917 as the official photographer, this love morphed into an enduring interest in the early explorations of the Antarctic and then increased to developing an interest in volcanoes due to the descriptions I read of Mount Erebus erupting. I have always had a love of the beauty of the Antarctic.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |