MT. EREBUS Volcano lies in the West Antarctic Rift System - called Terror Rift - Most active volcano in Antarctic

http://scienceblogs.com/eruptions/2009/07/volcano_profile_mt_erebus.php?utm_source=sbhomepage&utm_medium=link&utm_content=channellink

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Mt. Erebus Volcano Observatory (MEVO), run by New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology and the National Science Foundation. There website has one of the most remarkable archives of information on a single volcano on the internet. The volcano is also closely watched via satellite (see below), examining the temperature of the surface of the lava lake and the SO₂ flux. Erebus even once has a robotic explorer attempt to descend into the crater, but it ran into some trouble. Erebus also lies close to McMurdo Station. If you want to do some monitoring at home, there is even an iPhone/iPod Touch app for MEVO with current information of the volcano. There is also a live webcam to watch the volcano as well.

Mt. Erebus is centrally located on Ross Island, Antarctica. Mt. Erebus (77 32'S, 167 10'E), Ross Island, Antarctica is the world's southern-most active volcano. Discovered in 1841 by James Ross, it is one of only a very few volcanoes in the world with a long-lived (decades or more) lava lake. Scientific research sponsored by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) began in the early 1970s and included basic study of the petrology and geophysics of the volcano, the eruptive history, activity and degassing behavior of the lava lake, and the overall impact of the volcano on the Antarctic and global environment.

Research on Mt. Erebus has been primarily conducted by scientists in the Department of Earth and Environmental Science and the Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology. Each austral summer, a group of scientists and students ascend the volcano to live and work for several weeks (early December to early January). Current research consists of

1. Continued monitoring of the SO2 flux from the lava lake
2. Measuring the CO2 emissions from the lava lake and summit
3. Geochronology of the summit and flank lava flows
4. Continued monitoring and interpretation of seismic and seismoacoustic activity volcano through the use of a network of highly-sensitive broad-band seismometers, and 5) establishing a GPS base network to monitor the short- and long-term deformation of the volcano

Mount Erebus is located on Ross Island in the Ross Sea. Ross Island is composed of of Mt. Erebus and three other extinct major volcanic centers: Mt. Bird to the north, Mt. Terror to the east, and Hut Point Peninsula to the south (the far southern point of Hut Point Peninsula is the location of McMurdo Station - the main US base in Antarctica - and Scott Base - the main New Zealand base in Antarctica.

Notable features:

Persistent convecting phonolite lava lake. Persistent low-level eruptive activity. One of Earth's few long-lived lava lakes. Most active volcano in Antarctica. Lavas and bombs contain large (<10 cm) phenocrysts (crystals) of anorthoclase feldspar.