The Spectacular Blue ‘Lava’ of Kawah Ijen

Located in East Java, Indonesia, Kawah Ijen is a volcano is home to the largest acidic crater lake in the world. What turns the waters of the lake in the 1 km caldera its beautiful turquoise color are the highly sulfuric gases emitted from the volcano underneath. The same acidic gases burns a bright blue color when ignited by miners while condensation turns it into liquid sulfur which mimics flowing blue lava. Condensation of molten sulfur also drives the business of a sulfur mining operation on Kawah Ijen. The condensation of sulfur is extracted through ceramic pipes which pools on the ground and dries up a bright yellow color. Miners must descend 660 feet in order to load up to 200 lbs. of sulfur in a pair of baskets and walk it back up to the rim at an incline of 45 to 60 degrees. Each miner must then trek another 1.86 miles to the sugar refinery where the raw sulfur is weighed. Astoundingly, miners can make 2 to 3 trips a day performing the highly treacherous and backbreaking work at a pay of only $13 per day. Despite the highly toxic fumes, many seldom use the protection of a gas mask and sadly, most of them suffer from respiratory problems.

Some of the pictures here are by photographer Olivier Grunewald, who lost two lenses and a camera to sulfuric corrosion while trying to capture the amazing pictures.

For another colorful phenomena of nature photographed by Grunewald, try Amazing Photographs of the Liquid Rainbow in Colombia.