Heat supply is provided by rising magmatic gasses from the magma chamber through a liquid-filled conduit, and is counterbalanced by intense heat lost at the surface of the lava lake. Persistant lava lakes are very rare, and require a delicate equilibrium between heat supply and heat loss.

The current activity at the lava lake includes spattering and sometime strombolian explosions, that can eject bombs outside the crater. Mt Erebus volcano's lava lake is connected to a long-lived, open and stable magma plumbing system, which might have been in place for the past 17,000 years. Mount Erebus is noted for its active anorthoclase-feldspar phonolite lava lake, which has been in continuous activity since at least 1972, but probably much longer. The summit consists of the elliptical 500 x 600 m wide, 110-m-deep crater, which contains the famous active lava lake, contained within a 250-m-wide, 100-m-deep inner crater.

It contains a summit plateau at about 3200-m, marking the rim of the youngest caldera, which formed during the late-Pleistocene and within which the modern cone was constructed. The Erebus stratovolcano has undergone at least one or two caldera formations. The magma source beneath Erebus is sometimes described as a plume rising from the upper mantle at velocities of around 6 cm per year. This area is a rift zone where extension takes place and has thinned the crust to 20 km and allows magma to rise. Erebus volcano is an intraplate volcano and belongs to the McMurdo Volcanic Group, located in the so-called Terror Rift, which is part of the West Antarctic Rift System. Precipitation runoff from Mount Erebus drains into the Astoria River and Whirlpool River, both tributaries of the Athabasca River.View recent quakes Background Geologic setting In terms of favorable weather, July and August present the best months for climbing. This climate supports the Fraser Glacier on the northwest slope, and the Eremite Glacier on the northeast slope. Temperatures can drop below −20 ☌ (−4 ☏) with wind chill factors below −30 ☌ (−22 ☏). Climate īased on the Köppen climate classification, Mount Erebus is located in a subarctic climate zone with cold, snowy winters, and mild summers. The mountain's name was officially adopted in 1935 when approved by the Geographical Names Board of Canada. The first ascent of the mountain was made in 1924 by L. The mountain is located at the west margin of the Tonquin Valley, which is also named for another ill-fated ship, Tonquin. Bridgland would have also known about HMS Erebus and Franklin's lost expedition. Bridgland was impressed with the dark colored cliffs of the northeast face of the mountain. Bridgland (1878–1948), a Dominion Land Surveyor who named many peaks in Jasper Park and the Canadian Rockies. The mountain's name was applied in 1916 by Morrison P. The mountain's north ridge terminates at Outpost Peak.

The Continental Divide lies 3 km (1.9 mi) to the west, Angle Peak is situated 4.5 km (2.8 mi) to the southeast, and The Ramparts are 5.0 km (3.1 mi) to the north. Its nearest higher peak is Mount Fraser, 4.0 km (2.5 mi) to the northwest. Mount Erebus is composed of sedimentary rock laid down during the Cambrian period, then was pushed east and over the top of younger rock during the Laramide orogeny. Mount Erebus is a 3,112-metre (10,210-foot) mountain summit located near one of the most beautiful mountain meccas in the world, the Tonquin Valley of Jasper National Park in Alberta, Canada.

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