Editing Mount Erebus (section)

==History==
===Discovery and naming===
Mount Erebus was discovered on 27 January 1841 (and observed to be in eruption),<ref>{{cite book | last=Ross | first=J.C. | title=A Voyage of Discovery and Research in the Southern and Antarctic Regions, During the Years 1839-43 | publisher=John Murray | volume=1 | year=1847 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kjoNAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA216 | page=216-218}}</ref> by polar explorer Sir [[James Clark Ross]] on [[Ross expedition|his Antarctic expedition]], who named it and its companion, [[Mount Terror (Antarctica)|Mount Terror]], after his ships, [[HMS Erebus (1826)|HMS ''Erebus'']] and [[HMS Terror (1813)|HMS ''Terror'']] (which were later used and lost by Sir [[John Franklin]] on his disastrous [[Arctic]] [[Franklin's lost expedition|expedition]]). Present with Ross on HMS ''Erebus'' was the young [[Joseph Dalton Hooker|Joseph Hooker]], future president of the [[Royal Society]] and close friend of [[Charles Darwin]]. [[Erebus]] is a dark region in [[Hades]] in [[Greek mythology]], personified as the [[Greek primordial deities|Ancient Greek primordial deity]] of darkness, the son of [[Chaos (mythology)|Chaos]].<ref>Hesiod, ''Theogony'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+116 116–124].</ref>

===Historic sites===
[[File:Mount Erebus.png|thumb|Photograph of Mount Erebus (and [[Adélie penguin]]s) taken by the [[Terra Nova Expedition|''Terra Nova'' expedition]] in 1913]]
The mountain was surveyed in December 1912 by a science party from [[Robert Falcon Scott]]'s [[Terra Nova Expedition|''Terra Nova'' expedition]], who also collected geological samples. Two of the camp sites they used have been recognised for their historic significance:
* Upper “Summit Camp” site (HSM 89) consists of part of a circle of rocks, which were probably used to weight the tent valances.
* Lower “Camp E” site (HSM 90) consists of a slightly elevated area of gravel, as well as some aligned rocks, which may have been used to weight the tent valances.

They have been designated [[Historic Sites and Monuments in Antarctica|historic sites or monuments]] following a proposal by the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and the United States to the [[Antarctic Treaty System|Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting]].<ref name=atcm>{{cite web |url= http://www.ats.aq/documents/ATCM36/WW/atcm36_ww004_e.pdf|title= List of Historic Sites and Monuments approved by the ATCM (2013)|access-date=2014-01-09 |publisher=Antarctic Treaty Secretariat |year=2013}}</ref>

===Climbing===
{{main|Nimrod Expedition}}
Mount Erebus' summit crater rim was first achieved by members of Sir [[Ernest Shackleton]]'s party; [[Edgeworth David|Professor Edgeworth David]], [[Douglas Mawson|Sir Douglas Mawson]], [[Alistair Mackay|Dr Alister Mackay]], Alex Lagasse, [[Jameson Adams]], [[Eric Marshall|Dr Eric Marshall]] and Phillip Brocklehurst (who did not reach the summit),  on 10 March 1908. The ascent was documented in the first chapter of [[Aurora Australis (book)|Aurora Australis]], the first book to be written and published in Antarctica.<ref name="Aurora" /> Its first known solo ascent and the first winter ascent was accomplished by British mountaineer [[Roger Mear]] on 7 June 1985, a member of the "In the Footsteps of Scott" expedition.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mear |first1=Roger |last2=Swan |first2=Robert |last3=Fulcher |first3=Lindsay |title=A Walk to the Pole: To the Heart of Antarctica in the Footsteps of Scott |date=1987 |isbn=978-0-517-56611-4 |pages=95–104 |publisher=Crown |oclc=16092953 |language=English}}</ref> On 19–20 January 1991, Charles J. Blackmer, an iron-worker for many years at [[McMurdo Station]] and the [[South Pole]], accomplished a solo ascent in about 17 hours completely unsupported, by snow mobile and on foot.<ref name = "Wheeler Terra">{{cite book | title = Terra Incognita | url = https://archive.org/details/terraincognita00sara | url-access = registration | first = Sara | last = Wheeler| year = 1998 | publisher = Random House | isbn = 9780679440789 }}</ref><ref name = "Johnson Place">{{cite book | title = Big Dead Place | url = https://archive.org/details/bigdeadplaceinsi00nich | url-access = registration | first = Nicholas | last = Johnson| year = 2005 | publisher = Feral House | isbn = 9780922915996 }}</ref>

[[File:Mount Erebus craters, Ross Island, Antarctica (aerial view, 18 December 2000).jpg|Aerial view of Mount Erebus craters|thumb]]

===Robotic exploration===
In 1992, the inside of the volcano was explored by ''Dante I'', an eight legged tethered robotic explorer.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wettergreen |first1=David |last2=Thorpe |first2=Chuck |last3=Whittaker |first3=Red |title=Exploring Mount Erebus by Walking Robot |journal=Robotics and Autonomous Systems |date=December 1993 |volume=11 |issue=3–4 |pages=171–185|s2cid=1190583 |doi=10.1016/0921-8890(93)90022-5|citeseerx=10.1.1.46.6546 }}</ref> ''Dante'' was designed to acquire gas samples from the magma lake inside the inner crater of Mount Erebus to understand the chemistry better through the use of the on-board gas [[chromatograph]], as well as measuring the temperature inside the volcano and the radioactivity of the materials present in such volcanoes. ''Dante'' successfully scaled a significant portion of the crater before technical difficulties emerged with the fibre-optic cable used for communications between the walker and base station. Since ''Dante'' had not yet reached the bottom of the crater, no data of volcanic significance was recorded. The expedition proved to be highly successful in terms of robotic and computer science, and was possibly the first expedition by a robotic platform to Antarctica.

===Air New Zealand Flight 901===
[[File:Air New Zealand Flight 901.jpg|thumb|Wreckage of Flight 901]]
{{main|Mount Erebus disaster}}
[[Mount Erebus disaster|Air New Zealand Flight 901]] was a scheduled sightseeing service from [[Auckland Airport]] in [[New Zealand]] to [[Antarctica]] and return with a scheduled stop at [[Christchurch Airport]] to refuel before returning to Auckland.<ref name="Holmes">{{cite book |last1=Holmes |first1=Paul |title=Daughters of Erebus |date=2011 |publisher=Hodder Moa |isbn=978-1-86971-250-1 |page=31 |oclc=740446014 |language=English}}</ref> The [[Air New Zealand]] flyover service, for the purposes of Antarctic sightseeing, was operated with [[McDonnell Douglas DC-10|McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30]] aircraft and began in February 1977. The flight crashed into Mount Erebus on 28 November 1979, killing all 257 people on board. Passenger photographs taken seconds before the collision ruled out the "flying in a cloud" theory, showing perfectly clear visibility well beneath the cloud base, with landmarks visible {{convert|13|miles}} to the left and {{convert|10|miles}} to the right of the aircraft.<ref>Royal Commission Report, para 28</ref> The mountain directly ahead was lit by sunlight shining from directly behind the aircraft through the cloud deck above, resulting in a lack of shadows that made Mount Erebus effectively invisible against the overcast sky beyond in a classic [[Whiteout (weather)|whiteout]] (more accurately, "flat-light") phenomenon.<ref>Royal Commission Report, para 40(a)</ref> Further investigation of the crash showed a navigational error in flight documentation by Air New Zealand and a cover-up that resulted in about $100 million in lawsuits. Air New Zealand discontinued its flyovers of Antarctica. Its final flight was on 17 February 1980. During the Antarctic summer, snow melt on the flanks of Mount Erebus continually reveals debris from the crash that is visible from the air.<ref name="Holmes"/>