Scientists William McIntosh, left, and Aaron Curtis explore Hut Cave, one of more than 100 subterranean systems formed by Mount Erebus' geothermal processes.
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Clean Conduct
There are few places in Antarctica that have been studied as long as Mount Erebus, with continuous research atop of the active volcano stretching across four decades. But one of its most mysterious phenomena is only recently drawing attention by scientists.
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Subterranean Survey
The discovery of a lava lake on Mount Erebus 40 years ago offered a window into the "plumbing" of Antarctica's southernmost active volcano. It turns out there are scores of peepholes into the volcano's inner workings through the ice caves and towers that form where fissures on the flanks of Mount Erebus vent gas and steam.
It Was a Dark and Cold...
It's cliche but true: Antarctica represents the harshest environment on the planet. That offers a hint about the nature of the research under way by Hubert Staudigel and colleagues, who head to some of the continent's most gnarly environments to study how life ekes out a living.
Maternal Milestone
Researchers involved in a long-term population study of Weddell seals near the U.S. Antarctic Program's McMurdo Station recently reported that it had found a 29-year-old mother that had given birth to her 20th pup.
Flight Following
The loneliness of the long-distance winter at South Pole Station is over. The first flights to the U.S. Antarctic Program's most remote station since mid-February arrived on Oct. 19.