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| A study in contrasts ice and snow in the foreground, the lava Erebus is one of just a handful of volcanoes to boast a permanent lava lake. At the moment this picture was taken, the volcano was quiet, but it frequently erupts, hurling lava bombs high in the air. (photo © Carsten Peter/National Geographic) |
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| A mix of ropes and ladders eases access to of passages melted from the ice by the volcano's heat. Small currents of air probably cause the scalloping around the cave's entrance. (photo © Carsten Peter/National Geographic) |
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| On a clear evening the main crater of the volcano is quiet, exuding just a few puffs of steam. Abutting it is another crater, now extinct. Beyond, a dreamscape of sea ice and ocean stretches to the mountains and dry valleys of the Antarctic mainland. (photo © Carsten Peter/National Geographic) |
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| It’s so bright, it's hard to stop exploring the ice towers. This is one of the biggest on Erebus, but the flux of heat and moisture from below has collapsed its side. In the distance, beyond another ice tower, the extends like a finger toward (photo © Carsten Peter/National Geographic) |
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| Inside the ice caves the volcano's warm, wet air freezes into frost crystals that grow into different shapes, depending on how the air currents flow. Here, a team member investigates the passages of |
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| Microbiologist Craig Cary checks his notes underneath the blue dome of an ice cave, where he will take a soil sample to check for microbes. The blue light filters through the thin ice above the cave, which is close to the surface. Anyone walking outside the cave must take care or risk falling through. (photo © Carsten Peter/National Geographic) |
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| An unearthly landscape. On the upper slopes of the ice has been polished and textured by the wind. In the distance, sea ice, open ocean, and the mountains and dry valleys of the Antarctic mainland. Three figures—tiny in this vast place—prepare to return to camp after a cold day's work. (photo © Carsten Peter/National Geographic) |
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| Microbiologists collect samples from the volcano's hot soils. The white suits afford protection not for the humans but for the resident organisms of the hot soils, preventing foreign life-forms from being accidentally introduced into these unusual ecosystems. Though the ground is steamy hot, this is cold work; the air temperature is more than 150°F colder than the soil temperature. |
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| Steam swirls out of the Erebus crater, bringing with it a stench of sulfur. The inside of the crater looks like an exotic cheese, layers of ice alternating with layers of dark volcanic rocks, soils, and clays. The power of nature is strong here: thin air and fierce cold plus the elemental force of an active volcano. |
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| Stu Arnold of the research support agency Antarctica New Zealand steadies a drill bit, while microbiologist Craig Cary drives it into an ice-tower wall. Moments later, cries of delight: They have a perfect ice core. They hope it will contain microbes lofted from deep within the volcano and frozen in the tower ice. Source By www.nationalgeographic.com |