A volcanic bomb with a skid mark on the upper slope of Mt. Erebus, the most active volcano in Antarctica. The flanks were littered with volcanic bombs from a small strombolian eruption, which occur 2-6 times a day. This bomb was only two hours old, and still warm to the touch in spite of the -30°C outside air temperature. The exterior is still shiny, as the surface hasn't had time to be weathered by wind and gases escaping from the crater. The inside of the larger bombs is hollow, as the center inflated as they were ejected from the lava lake some 220m below the crater rim. The inside of these bubble bombs has thread-like strands of rock. Here geologist Dr. Bill McIntosh examines a hot lava bomb and associated debris/impact trail. In the background is Cape Bird, and at right is Mt. Bird, a 4 million-year-old extinct basalt volcano.
- Filename
- STNMTZ_20051203_RAW16923.tif
- Copyright
- © 2006 George Steinmetz
- Image Size
- 6144x4089 / 71.9MB
- www.georgesteinmetz.com
- Contained in galleries
- Antarctica