Mount Erebus Research Articles

Enumeration of Thermophilic Heterotrophs in Geothermally Heated Soils from Mount Erebus, Ross Island, Antarctica

Soil samples with temperatures up to 64 degrees C were collected from Mount Erebus, an active volcano located on Ross Island, Antarctica. Acridine orange direct counts and most probable number counts of soil samples stored at 4 degrees C for 2 months showed a wide variation in the number of thermophilic microorganisms in different soils. Organisms similar to Clostridium thermohydrosulfuricum, Bacillus schlegelii, and Bacillus acidocaldarius, as well as neutrophilic Bacillus strains, were isolated.

21B. Gravity Measurements around Mount Erebus, Ross Island, Antarctica.

21B. Gravity Measurements around Mount Erebus, Ross Island, Antarctica.

Seismic activity of Erebus volcano, antarctica

Mount Erebus is presently the only Antarctic volcano with sustained eruptive activity in the past few years. It is located on Ross Island and a convecting anorthoclase phonolite lava lake has occupied the summit crater of Mount Erebus from January 1973 to September 1984. A program to monitor the seismic activity of Mount Erebus named IMESS was started in December 1980 as an international cooperative program among Japan, the United States and New Zealand. A new volcanic episode began on 13 September, 1984 and continued until December.

Earthquake swarms on Mount Erebus, Antarctica

Mount Erebus (3794 m), located on Ross Island in McMurdo Sound, is one of the few active volcanoes in Antartica. A high-sensitivity seismic network has been operated by Japanese and US parties on and around the Volcano since December, 1980. The results of these observations show two kinds of seismic activity on Ross Island: activity concentrated near the summit of Mount Erebus associated with Strombolian eruptions, and micro-earthquake activity spread through Mount Erebus and the surrounding area. Seismicity on Mount Erebus has been quite high, usually exceeding 20 volcanic earthquakes per day. They frequently occur in swarms with daily counts exceeding 100 events. Sixteen earthquake swarms with more than 250 events per day were recorded by the seismic network during the three year period 1982–1984, and three notable earthquake swarms out of the sixteen were recognized, in October, 1982 (named 82-C), March–April, 1984 (84-B) and July, 1984 (84-F). Swarms 84-B and 84-F have a large total number of earthquakes and large Ishimoto-Iida's “m”; hence these two swarms are presumed to constitute on one of the precursor phenomena to the new eruption, which took place on 13 September, 1984, and lasted a few months.

Seismicity in the vicinity of Ross Island, Antarctica

Earthquakes in the Ross Sea, Antarctica, are of two types: volcanic, and those which appear to be of tectonic origin. Volcanic events in the vicinity of Ross Island are associated exclusively with Mount Erebus, Ross Island; this volcano erupts regularly, generating several earthquakes per day whose characteristics are quite distinct from non-volcanic events. These nonvolcanic earthquakes are recognizable by their distinct P- and S-wave arrivals, and a lack of the high frequency, often monochromatic character typical of Erebus events. One hundred fifty-seven tectonic microearthquakes (M < 2.0) were recorded in 1983 and 1984 by the ten station network on Ross Island; these events were located using the least-squares routine, HYPOELLIPSE. Of these events, 106 have RMS residual traveltime errors of less than or equal to 0.6 seconds; they are clustered in the vicinity of Ross Island, but are not restricted to it. There is a linear trend of epicenters cutting across the island and continuing northward. Most activity seems to center beneath Mount Terra Nova, between Mount Erebus and Mount Terror. Mean depth for events is 8.2 km; however, depths are rather evenly distributed over a range of 0 to 25 km. Modelling based on Bouger gravity anomalies and seismic refraction studies indicates a depth to the Moho of about 40 km beneath the continent, shallowing to 27 km beneath the Ross Sea. This 27 km depth is approximately equal to the lower limit of the tectonic seismicity detected by the Erebus network; hence, events are of crustal origin. These data suggest, with the rift-type geochemistry of Erebus' magma, that the Ross Sea is a site of active crustal extension and rifting.

Fluxes, sizes, morphology and compositions of particles in the Mt. Erebus volcanic plume, December 1983

Use of an airborne quartz crystal microbalance cascade impactor instrument together with a correlation spectrometer has allowed the flux of particles and their size distribution to be determined at Mount Erebus. The plume contributes 21±3 metric tomnes/day of aerosol particles to the Antarctic upper troposphere. The aerosol particles consist of larger (5–25 μm) particles of elemental sulfur and silica, a middle sized group of iron oxides and smaller particles (less than 1 μm) of complex liquids. Unlike many volcanic plumes, the Erebus plume has only a small amount of sulfate particles. The concentrations of particles in the Erebus plumes was 70–370 μm/m3. Limited sampling of the Antarctic atmosphere at 8 km altitude but hundreds of km away from Erebus obtained a few large particles of sulfur and silicates, suggesting a similarity with the Erebus plume. The fallout of these particles occurs slowly over a broad area of the Antarctic continent.

Rate of sulphur dioxide emission from Erebus volcano, Antarctica, December 1983

Mount Erebus is the principal source of volcanic emanations to the atmosphere in Antarctica. The rate of emission of SO2 from Mt Erebus was determined to be 230±90 tonnes day−1 during an 11-day period in December 1983. This is a more accurate and much higher estimate than previous ones. Because of the very constant character of the volcano's activity from the earliest observations until September 1984, the emission rate is possibly representative of the past 20 yr. The new data are important for accurate assessment of volcanic input to the clean Antarctic atmosphere, and are a useful baseline for the changes in emission rates which will be measured now, after Erebus has begun a new energetic eruptive period.

Volcanic earthquake swarms at Mt. Erebus, Antarctica

Abstract Mount Erebus is an active volcano in Antarctica located on Ross Island. A convecting lava lake occupies the summit crater of Mt. Erebus. Since December 1980 the seismic activity of Mt. Erebus has been continuously monitored using a radio-telemetered network of six seismic stations. The seismic activity observed by the Ross Island network during the 1982–1983 field season shows that: (1)Strombolian eruptions occur frequently at the Erebus summit lava lake at rates of 2–5 per day; (2)centrally located earthquakes map out a nearly vertical, narrow conduit system beneath the lava lake; (3)there are other source regions of seismicity on Ross Island, well removed from Mt. Erebus proper. An intense earthquake swarm recorded in October 1982 near Abbott Peak, 10 km northwest of the summit of Mt. Erebus, and volcanic tremor accompanying the swarm, may have been associated with new dike emplacement at depth.

28. Activity of earthquake swarms in Mount Erebus(Abstracts of Papers Presented at the Fall Meeting of the Society)

28. Activity of earthquake swarms in Mount Erebus(Abstracts of Papers Presented at the Fall Meeting of the Society)

2A. Seismic acivity of Mount Erebus, Antarctica, 1982-84(Abstracts of Papers Presented at the Spring Meeting of the Society)

2A. Seismic acivity of Mount Erebus, Antarctica, 1982-84(Abstracts of Papers Presented at the Spring Meeting of the Society)

Air Disaster in Antarctica

On the 28th of November 1979, the fourth largest air disaster in the world occurred on the icy slopes of Mount Erebus, deep in Antarctica and 50 km from Scott Base. The 237 passengers and 20 crew were all killed instantly on impact, and their bodies and the wreckage were spread over an area 500 m long and 100 m wide. It had started out as a scenic flight, the 14th to Antarctica, and it had ended in tragedy. It was suffered, too, by an airline company which had maintained the highest standards of aviation safety.In an account of Scott's last Antartic expedition in 1910, Cherry Garrard wrote of the “worst journey in the world,” and he said, “I have seen Fuji, the most dainty and graceful of mountains—and also Kanchenjunga; only Mechelangelo among men could have conceived such grandeur.

1A. The 1984 eruptions of Mount Erebus(Abstracts of Papers Presented at the Spring Meeting of the Society)

1A. The 1984 eruptions of Mount Erebus(Abstracts of Papers Presented at the Spring Meeting of the Society)

Geophysical studies of Erebus volcano, Antarctica, from 1974 December to 1982 January

Abstract Seismic, infrasonic, and magnetic induction recordings and eruption observations during expeditions to Mount Erebus in December-—January of 1974–75, 1975–76, 1978–79,1978–81 and December 1981 are reported. Erebus IS umque in its high-latitude location within a tectonic plate and its persistent lava lake of phonolitic composition. In an aseismic region, more than 100 volcanic earthquakes per day occur in the energy range of 0.2-200000 J (ML–2 to 1). Foci Iie mostly within the edifice of the vo1cano with a concentration of B-types near the crater. Preliminary Pvelocity determinations are 1.6 km/s in the summit cone (from crater explosions),4.5 km/s in the main edifice (from distant earthquakes), 6.5 km/s in the underlying basement, and 7.5 km/s at about 7 km below sea level (from refraction surveys). The b-value is 1.5 for earthquakes below 100 J and 0.6 for the larger earthquakes which accompany the average 3.6 ± 2.7 strombolian eruptions per day. Large earthquakes (and eruptions) are about 10 times more frequent between 14h and 18h UT than between 12h and 14h UT. The level of seismic activity is similar from year to year, but the eruptions vary from cannon like explosions typical of 1974 to roanng gas emIssIons typical of 1981.The seismic and infrasonic wave Received August 1983, accepted July 1984 frequencies are related and vary over a range factor of about 10.The diameter of the eruptmg area has similar variation. Sometimes the infrasonic onset just preceded the explosion earthquake. In others, forerunning tremor preceded explosions by up to 45 sand was observed to accompany hissing, and rise of lava, in the exploding vent; otherwise volcanic tremor is absent.Magnetic induction signals, with on sets simultaneous with the earthquake, accompany the larger and lower frequency infrasonic/ seismic events, and are interpreted as due to the movement of conducting magma in the earth§ magnetic field.The study is continuing in the International Mount Erebus Seismic Study (lMESS) which began in November 1980.

The principle of responsive adjustment in corporate moral responsibility: The crash on mount erebus

The tragic crash of Air New Zealand's flight TE-901 into Mt. Erebus in Antarctica provides a fascinating case for the exploration of the notion of corporate moral responsibility. A principle of accountability that has Aristotelian roots and is significantly different from the usual strict intentional action principles is examined and defined. That principle maintains that a person can be held morally accountable for previous non-intentional behavior that has harmful effects if the person does not take corrective measures to adjust his ways of behavior so as not to produce repetitions. This principle is then applied to the Mt. Erebus disaster.

123. Characteristics of seismic activities in Mount Erebus, Antarctica(Abstracts of Papers Presented at the Spring Meeting of the Society)

123. Characteristics of seismic activities in Mount Erebus, Antarctica(Abstracts of Papers Presented at the Spring Meeting of the Society)

124. Interpretation of intereruption period of Mount Erebus : A mechanism of Strombolian eruptions(Abstracts of Papers Presented at the Spring Meeting of the Society)

124. Interpretation of intereruption period of Mount Erebus : A mechanism of Strombolian eruptions(Abstracts of Papers Presented at the Spring Meeting of the Society)

4. エレバス山の火山活動 1981～1982(日本火山学会 1983 年度春季大会講演要旨)

4. エレバス山の火山活動 1981～1982(日本火山学会 1983 年度春季大会講演要旨)

Mount Erebus activity

An international team of scientists reports that unusually high seismic activity joggled Mount Erebus last fall. However, the Antarctic volcano showed no external signs of an eruption.When scientists from the United States, Japan, and New Zealand returned to the world's southernmost active volcano last November for their annual field expedition, they found that seismic stations recorded 650 small tremors on October 8; prior to that, the number of quakes had averaged between 20 and 80 per day. The October 8 maximum was followed by 140 on October 9 and 120 on October 10. Philip R. Kyle, assistant professor of geochemistry at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology in Socorro and leader of the team studying Mount Erebus, noted that some of the strongest earthquakes recorded during the team's 3 years of observations occurred on October 8; these registered less than 2 on the Richter scale.

The Royal Commission on the Mount Erebus Air Disaster

On 28 November 1979 an Air New Zealand DC 10 aircraft on sight-seeing flight TE901 crashed into Mount Erebus, Ross Island in the Ross Dependency, Antarctica, killing all 257 people on board. The disaster and its subsequent investigation are of considerable concern not only for the New Zealand legal system, but also for the nascent discipline of Antarctic law (Auburn 1982).

The origin of salts on Mount Erebus and along the coast of Ross Island, Antarctica

Salt deposits in the form of crusts and efflorescences are a common feature of rock exposures along the coast of Ross Island and on the summit of Mt. Erebus, an active volcano that dominates the island. The 87Sr/ 86Sr ratios of salts from coastal sites decrease with increasing elevation from 0.70861 at Cape Royds to 0.70344 at the top of Castle Rock on Hut Point peninsula, only 413 m above sea level, but may also vary along the coast in response to the seasonal duration of open water. The variation of 87Sr/ 86Sr ratios can be attributed to mixing of marine Sr with Sr derived from the volcanic rocks and confirms the importance of chemical weathering as a source of Sr in these secondary salts. Yellow salts of complex mineralogical composition from the summit of Mt. Erebus have 87Sr/ 86Sr ratios whose average is 0.70345. This value is consistent with the hypothesis that these salts formed both from the plume of volcanic gases emanating from a convect-ing lava lake of phonolitic composition and by chemical weathering of the volcanic rocks. One sample of white salt from ice caves at the summit has an anomalously high 87Sr/ 86Sr ratio of 0.70460 perhaps because it contains a component of marine Sr released by melting of large quantities of snow in the ice caves.