A study in contrasts: ice and snow in the foreground, the lava lake of Mount Erebus below. Erebus is one of just a handful of volcanoes to boast a permanent lava lake. At the moment this picture was taken, the volcano was quiet, but it frequently erupts, hurling lava bombs high in the air.

 

 A mix of ropes and ladders eases access to Warren Cave, a labyrinth of passages melted from the ice by the volcano's heat. Small currents of air probably cause the scalloping around the cave's entrance

On a clear evening the main crater of the volcano is quiet, exuding just a few puffs of steam. Abutting it is another crater, now extinct. Beyond, a dreamscape of sea ice and ocean stretches to the mountains and dry valleys of the Antarctic mainland.

 It's midnight, but with the light so bright, it's hard to stop exploring the ice towers. This is one of the biggest on Erebus, but the flux of heat and moisture from below has collapsed its side. In the distance, beyond another ice tower,

 

 Inside the ice caves the volcano's warm, wet air freezes into frost crystals that grow into different shapes, depending on how the air currents flow. Here, a team member investigates the passages of Hut Cav

 Microbiologist   checks his notes underneath the blue dome of an ice cave, where he will take a soil sample to check for microbes. The blue light filters through the thin ice above the cave, which is close to the surface. Anyone walking outside the cave must take care or risk falling through

An unearthly landscape. On the upper slopes of Mount Erebus, the ice has been polished and textured by the wind. In the distance, sea ice, open ocean, and the mountains and dry valleys of the Antarctic mainland. Three figures—tiny in this vast place—prepare to return to camp after a cold day's work