A fumarolic ice tower is a tower of ice produced by

fumarole A fumarole (or fumerole) is a vent in the surface of the Earth or other rocky planet from which hot volcanic gases and vapors are emitted, without any accompanying liquids or solids. Fumaroles are characteristic of the late stages of volcani ...

s of volcanic activity in an environment whose ambient temperature is below the freezing point of water. They are often underlain by massive

ice cave An ice cave is any type of natural cave (most commonly lava tubes or limestone caves) that contains significant amounts of perennial (year-round) ice. At least a portion of the cave must have a temperature below 0 °C (32 °F) all ...

Mount Erebus Mount Erebus () is the second-highest volcano in Antarctica (after Mount Sidley), the highest active volcano in Antarctica, and the southernmost active volcano on Earth. It is the sixth-highest ultra mountain on the continent. With a summ ...

, the world's southernmost active volcano, is one producer of these ice towers. The ambient temperature at its location is always well below water's freezing point, and the diffuse degassing of carbon dioxide through the steaming warm ground around its flanks causes ice to first melt, then vaporize, and then accumulate into chimney-like towers.

Mount Berlin Mount Berlin is a high glacier-covered volcano in Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica, from the Amundsen Sea. It is a mountain with parasitic vents that consists of two coalesced volcanoes; Berlin proper with the wide Berlin Crater and Merrem P ...

Formation

Structure

References