Mount Erebus is a mountain summit located near the

Tonquin Valley The Tonquin Valley is a backcountry area in Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada popular for hiking, backpacking, and mountaineering. The Tonquin features views of The Ramparts mountain range, which rises above Amethyst Lakes. It also boasts pop ...

Jasper National Park Jasper National Park, in Alberta, Canada, is the largest national park within Alberta's Rocky Mountains, spanning . It was established as Jasper Forest Park in 1907, renamed as a national park in 1930, and declared a UNESCO world heritage site ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. Mount Erebus is composed of

sedimentary rock Sedimentary rocks are types of rock (geology), rock formed by the cementation (geology), cementation of sediments—i.e. particles made of minerals (geological detritus) or organic matter (biological detritus)—that have been accumulated or de ...

laid down during the

Cambrian The Cambrian ( ) is the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, and the Phanerozoic Eon. The Cambrian lasted 51.95 million years from the end of the preceding Ediacaran period 538.8 Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the Ordov ...

period, then was pushed east and over the top of younger rock during the

Laramide orogeny The Laramide orogeny was a time period of mountain building in western North America, which started in the Late Cretaceous, 80 to 70 million years ago, and ended 55 to 35 million years ago. The exact duration and ages of beginning and end of the o ...

. Its nearest higher peak is Mount Fraser, to the northwest. The

Continental Divide A continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side either feeds into a different ocean or sea, or else is endorheic, not ...

lies to the west, Angle Peak is situated to the southeast, and The Ramparts are to the north. The mountain's north ridge terminates at Outpost Peak. __NOTOC__

History

The mountain's name was applied in 1916 by Morrison P. Bridgland (1878–1948), a

Dominion Land Survey The Dominion Land Survey (DLS; ) is the method used to divide most of Western Canada into one-square-mile (2.6 km2) sections for agricultural and other purposes. It is based on the layout of the Public Land Survey System used in the United St ...

or who named many peaks in Jasper Park and the Canadian Rockies. Bridgland was impressed with the dark colored cliffs of the northeast face of the mountain. The Greek word for ''darkness'' is ''erebus''. Bridgland would have also known about and

Franklin's lost expedition Franklin's lost expedition was a failed British voyage of Arctic exploration led by Captain Sir John Franklin that departed England in 1845 aboard two ships, and , and was assigned to traverse the last unnavigated sections of the Northwest ...

. The mountain is located at the west margin of the Tonquin Valley, which is also named for another ill-fated ship, . The

first ascent In mountaineering and climbing, a first ascent (abbreviated to FA in climbing guidebook, guide books), is the first successful documented climb to the top of a mountain or the top of a particular climbing route. Early 20th-century mountaineers a ...

of the mountain was made in 1924 by L. Coolidge (the son of

Harold Jefferson Coolidge Sr. Harold Jefferson Coolidge (January 22, 1870 – July 31, 1934)Lawrence, Robert Means: The Descendants of Major Samuel Lawrence', Riverside Press, Cambridge, MA, 1904, p. 208. URL last accessed 2012-11-15.N.N.: Harold Jefferson Coolidge'' ...

), G. Higginsnon, J. E. Johnson, and guide A. Streich. The mountain's name was officially adopted in 1935 when approved by the

Geographical Names Board of Canada The Geographical Names Board of Canada (GNBC) is a national committee with a secretariat in Natural Resources Canada, part of the Government of Canada, which authorizes the names used and name changes on official federal government maps of Canad ...

Climate

Based on the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

, Mount Erebus is located in a

subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a continental climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of ...

zone with cold, snowy winters, and mild summers. Temperatures can drop below with wind chill factors below . This climate supports the Fraser Glacier on the northwest slope, and the Eremite Glacier on the northeast slope. In terms of favorable weather, July and August present the best months for climbing. Precipitation runoff from Mount Erebus drains into the

Astoria River The Astoria River is a short river in Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada. It is an early tributary of the Athabasca River. The Astoria forms in the Tonquin Valley, collecting meltwater from the Fraser Glacier, The Ramparts, Mount Erebus, Mou ...

and

Whirlpool River The Whirlpool River is a short river in Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada. It is an early tributary of the Athabasca River. The Whirlpool is formed in Athabasca Pass, collecting meltwater from the Hooker Icefield and the Mount Brown Icefield. ...

, both tributaries of the

Athabasca River The Athabasca River (French: ''Rivière Athabasca'') in Alberta, Canada, originates at the Columbia Icefield in Jasper National Park and flows more than before emptying into Lake Athabasca. Much of the land along its banks is protected in nationa ...

History

Climate

References

External links