In East Java, Indonesia, atop the Ijen volcano complex, right next to the largest highly acidic crater lake in the world, brave wanderers can see something truly spectacular: blue ‘lava.’
This flowing blue fire—hardly ever seen in this kind of volume—isn’t, of course, actual “lava” (hence the quotes). What the 500px photographers below have captured is sulphur, which erupts from cracks in the volcano at high pressure and temperature’s as high as 600°C (~1,110°F).
According to National Geographic News, those erupting gasses ignite when they come into contact with the outside air, creating blue flames that can reach 5 meters (16.4 feet) high. After which some of the gas condenses into liquid sulfur that burns bright blue as it flows down the volcanic slope… not unlike lava.
Words do not do this phenomenon justice… pictures come quite a bit closer:
Have YOU ever been to the Kawah Ijen volcano and seen the blue flames yourself? If you have, upload your photos to 500px and share a link in the comments! And if you’re not sufficiently awed by nature after the beautiful display above, check out this eye-popping photo of a man walking alongside the largest lava lake on Earth… that should do it.
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