Photographer Olivier Grunewald at Boston.com has captured some amazing pictures of sulfur mining at Kawah Ijen, a volcano in East Java, Indonesia. Sulfur mining in a volcano? Yes. Miners earn approximately $13 a day hauling sulfur down the mountain. As you can see from the picture at the right, the sulfur can catch fire and burns with a blue flame. It gives me the feeling of an image of fire and ice, although the “blue ice” in this case is actually on fire. Also, inside this volcano is a sulfuric acid lake. Click on through to see some amazing images.
Escaping volcanic gasses are channeled through a network of ceramic pipes, resulting in condensation of molten sulfur. The sulfur, which is deep red in color when molten, pours slowly from the ends of these pipes and pools on the ground, turning bright yellow as it cools. The cooled material is broken into large pieces and carried out in baskets by the miners.
