Mount Erebus Volcano: An Exceptional Natural Laboratory for Studying Alkaline Magmatism and Open-Conduit Volcano Behavior

• Main Authors: Sims, Kenneth Ww, Aster, Rick, Gaetani, Glenn, Blichert-Toft, Janne, Phillips, Erin, Wallace, Paul, Mattioli, Glen, Rasmussen, Dan, Boyd, Eric
• Other Authors: University of Wyoming (UW), Laboratoire de Géologie de Lyon - Terre, Planètes, Environnement (LGL-TPE), École normale supérieure de Lyon (ENS de Lyon)-Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (UCBL), Université de Lyon-Université de Lyon-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Jean Monnet - Saint-Étienne (UJM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
• Format: Book Part
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2020
• Subjects: [SDU.STU.GC]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Geochemistry; [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology; [SDU.STU.GP]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Geophysics [physics.geo-ph]; Mount Erebus; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-02991157; https://hal.science/hal-02991157/document; https://hal.science/hal-02991157/file/GSLBooks19-008_Final_Version.pdf

International audience Erebus volcano, Antarctica, is the southern-most active volcano on the globe. Despite its remoteness and harsh conditions, Erebus volcano provides an unprecedented and unique opportunity to study the petrogenesis and evolution, as well as the passive and explosive degassing, of an alkaline magmatic system with a persistently open and magma-filled conduit. In this invited contribution, we review nearly five decades of scientific research related to Erebus volcano, including geological, geophysical, geochemical, and microbiological observations and interpretations. Mt Erebus truly is one of the world's most significant natural volcano laboratories where the lofty scientific goal of studying a volcanic system from mantle to microbe is being realized.