Mt. Erebus is unique in being the world’s southernmost active volcano. What also makes this volcano special is the long lived lava lake that has been in the crater ever since people have been looking there, and probably much longer. The lava lake in Mt. Erebus is similar to only two other volcanoes on earth, Nyiragongo, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Erta’Ale, in Ethiopia. But the formation of the crystals on Erebus is similar to a couple of other volcanoes, including Mt. Kenya. And to make it even more confusing, Erebus has a composition of lava that is similar to one of the deadliest volcanoes on earth, Mt. Vesuvius! You can begin to imagine why Mt. Erebus is such an interesting place to study. ...

Dr. Phil Kyle and Dr. Daria Zandomeneghi, both from the New Mexico Institute for Mining and Technology, are trying to "CT" scan the inside of Mt. Erebus using active seismic waves. As a teacher, I have been invited to assist with the experiment through the outreach program funded by the National Science Foundation. Over the past few weeks the team has been installing temporary seismometers at specific locations on the volcano. These seismometers create a grid of stations that will record seismic waves from explosive blasts set off at various locations. The blasts will generate "active" waves in the ground. They are active ...