News from down south. Waaaay down south.

Mount Erebus has a couple of interesting features. First, it's surrounded by chimney-like projections called fumaroles. Hot steam and gas escape from the volcano's sides, melting the ice and forming ice tunnels. The steam goes up the tunnels and freeze as soon as it hits the colder air above ground. These towers can grow to up to 60 feet before collapsing. Second is its lava lake with the molten lava visible. The scalding pool gets as hot as around 1,700 degrees Fahrenheit and is miles deep.

McMurdo Station, US' main research base in Antarctica is 20 miles from Mount Erebus and they monitor the volcano's activity for most of the year. The poles would be getting a lot more attention this year for the fourth International Polar Year (since 1882). Scientists will study how the poles affect the world's weather and what forms of life can survive in extreme cold.

Mount Erebus has been erupting regularly in 2005, spewing up to 50 lava bombs every time. Imagine being bombarded with ten foot wide blobs of lava. Pretty scary, especially when Erebus can throw it up to a mile from the actual mountain.

Here's a clip of Mount Erebus' eruption.