Volcanoes Galleries

Bromo, Semeru, Tengger caldera : The Tengger caldera with Bromo volcano and Semeru volcano in the background is one of the great views on earth. Bromo is an easy little volcano, but Semeru is a monster and a tough climb.

Bromo, Semeru, Tengger caldera

The Tengger caldera with Bromo volcano and Semeru volcano in the backg ...

Updated: Oct 09, 2009 5:17pm PST

Kawa Ijen - Volcano mining : Kawa Ijen is the active crater of the Ijen volcano in East Java. The crater has a turquoise acid lake at the bottom, which contrasts starkly with the yellow, sulphur coated rocks of the crater. It is a place of immense beauty, but also the site of a sulphur mine. The workers mine the sulphur from the active fumarole at the bottom of the crater and carry loads of it out of the crater for use in other industries (mainly sugar refining). As with most mines, mining operations are split into two areas - maintenance/development and production. The production work is generally the highest paid as it is based on actual production; in this case, kilograms of sulphur carried out of the crater. This is backbreaking work, in cruel conditions and the miners get paid IDR 550/kg (US$0.06/kg). This translates to about US$9/day for a top miner. Even this is better than the development work, at least it was on this day. The fumarole emits a stream of hot gases at more than 200 deg C. These gases are a mix of steam, sulphur, sulphur dioxide, hydrogen sulphide and various other, generally nasty gases, but no oxygen. The miners collect the sulphur by directing these gases through iron pipes which allow the elemental sulphur to condense, flow out of the bottoms of the pipes and solidify in areas know as "kitchens". The kitchens are where the sulphur is collected and put into baskets for the production miners to carry out of the mine. On this day, 29th July 2008, the wind was quite gusty and had filled the crater with toxic gases. It was also a day when the miners needed to do some work to add new pipes to the fumarole. This was done by first trying to cool the fumarole with a hose. I suspect this did very little (have you ever tried cooling a volcano with a garden hose?), but at least they tried. The miners then formed a bucket line to pass up new pipes and buckets of cement to hold them in place. This work had to be done in the very worst location possible - right on top of the fumarole where the heat and gases were at their most extreme. I had a respirator on for the whole time I was in the crater, but even then I could only approach the fumarole with great care and I had to be prepared to retreat at any instant if the wind blew the fumes back towards me. Not even a good respirator will let you breathe when there isn't enough oxygen in the air. Some miners had old respirators (which probably didn't work any more), but most had to rely on breathing through a wet rag held in their mouth. This did help to absorb the gases, but it also forms an acid solution which dissolves their teeth. The work was very slow as any great exertion on the part of the miners was impossible in conditions with so little breathable air. I'll let the photos do the rest of the talking.

Kawa Ijen - Volcano mining

Kawa Ijen is the active crater of the Ijen volcano in East Java. The ...

Updated: Jul 26, 2009 5:28pm PST

Nyiragongo : The largest and longest lasting permanent lava lake on earth. An amazing site.

Nyiragongo

The largest and longest lasting permanent lava lake on earth. An amaz ...

Updated: Jan 24, 2008 2:34pm PST

Yasur, Vanuatu : Yasur is a little volcano. This really means that it is a young volcano as it is only about 800 years old. The business end is really quite mature as it is always active. It is located on the island of Tanna in Vanuatu and is one of the most accessable volcanoes in the world.

Yasur, Vanuatu

Yasur is a little volcano. This really means that it is a young volcan ...

Updated: Feb 07, 2008 2:53am PST

Welirang and the sulfur miners : Welirang is a 3160m high volcano near Surabaya in East Java. This is a series of photos showing the mountain and the men who mine sulfur from the fumaroles near the top of the volcano. The sulfur is collected by construting rock tunnels which help to condense the sulfur so it can be collected as a solid from about 15 "kitchens". The miners then put the sulfur into bags and carry it down the mountain with the help a wooden hand-carts. Each load is about 100kg with a maximum of 150kg. It is a tough life and most of the miners are young men. Struggling with 100kg or more down a steep mountain must take its toll on bones and tendons. The volcanic gases, fine dust and almost universal smoking must also do great damage to lungs. In spite of this the workers seemed happy enough. The view is amazing and they do get to work for themselves at their own pace, but at 2,300rp (A$3) for each 100kg, they aren't going to get rich. They can do 2 loads a day, so that makes about A$6 per day.

Welirang and the sulfur miners

Welirang is a 3160m high volcano near Surabaya in East Java. This is ...

Updated: Sep 14, 2007 5:49pm PST

White Island and New Zealand : New Zealand has some beautiful volcanic scenery and White Island has some of the best.

White Island and New Zealand

New Zealand has some beautiful volcanic scenery and White Island has s ...

Updated: Jul 30, 2007 5:16am PST

Central and West Java - Papandayan and Merapi : The volcanoes of West Java. Papandayan is my favourite, though it did make me a bit sick with the hydrogen sulphide

Central and West Java - Papandayan and Merapi

The volcanoes of West Java. Papandayan is my favourite, though it did ...

Updated: Apr 19, 2009 3:37pm PST

Krakatau (krakatoa) :

Krakatau (krakatoa)

Updated: Apr 19, 2009 3:35pm PST