Mount Erebus is the southernmost active volcano on Earth, located on Ross Island in Antarctica.
The volcano rises to 3,794 metres and is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire. It has been continuously active since at least 1972, making it one of the best-known persistently active volcanoes in Antarctica. Its summit crater contains a long-lived convecting lava lake.
Mount Erebus was named during the 1841 expedition led by British explorer James Clark Ross. The expedition’s ships were HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, and the volcano took its name from the former vessel.
A common mix-up is confusing Mount Erebus with Mount Terror. Both are on Ross Island and were named during the same expedition, but Mount Terror is a neighbouring extinct or dormant volcano rather than the island’s active summit. Erebus’s extreme location makes its lava lake especially valuable for studying volcanic processes in cold environments.