Towering Blue Flames!

 

Located in East Java, Indonesia is the Ijen volcano, which has turquoise-colored acid crater lake known as 'Blue Fire Crater'. The lake is recognized as the largest highly acidic crater lake in the world. The crater is known for it's electric blue flames. A two hour midnight hike is needed to reach the rim of the crater with a professional guide for safety. The blue flames are not lava but ignited sulfuric gas which as emerged from cracks (at 1,112 degrees). The flames reach up to 16 feet and are believed to be the largest blue flame in the world.    The lake is the site of a labor-intensive sulfur mining operation. Active vents at the edge of the lake are a source of elemental sulfur. Escaping gases are channeled through a network of pipes, resulting in condensation of molten sulfur. The sulfur, red in the pipes, turns yellow once cooled on the ground. The miners break the cooled pieces and carry them away in baskets weighing up to 200 pounds. They must be carried about 1000 feet to the crater's edge and then down the mountain another 2 miles twice a day all for $5.00 to about $8.00 a day :(!