23 November 2022 - THE TOUGHEST JOB in INDONESIA

 

 THE TOUGHEST JOB

 in 

INDONESIA

G'day folks,

Think you have a tough job? Try carrying 200 kilos through a cloud of sulfur down the side of a volcano. 

It is an American pastime to complain about one’s job. A bad boss, late hours, poor pay; there is always plenty to complain about. However even the worst office 9-5 in the U.S. is a cakewalk compared to being a sulfur miner on Kawah Ijen, an 8,660-foot active volcano in East Java, Indonesia, which bears a certain similarity to Dante’s vision of hell.

Working on the side of the active volcano in temperatures surpassing 100 degrees Fahrenheit, workers use metal poles to hack out chunks of elemental sulfur. Using ceramic pipes, they channel the gases which drain out as liquid red sulfur which then hardens into the yellow chunks the miners carry out. To do all this, the workers must stand near a live sulfur vent pouring out masses of the noxious, choking gas (the air carries H2SO4 and CaSO4, which are both toxic). The workers then load baskets with 150-200 pounds (68-91 kilos) of sulfur chunks and haul them up 200 meters to the crater rim, and then down three kilometers of traile and 1500 meters of elevation to the weighing station where the sulfur is sold to be used in vulcanizing rubber and bleaching sugar. The reward: around US$13 a day.

 

One of the problems with improving the men’s situation is that they are all essentially freelance, with no direct employer, so the only safety standards are those the men impose on themselves, which are very few. The men generally work without (expensive) gas masks, despite the fact that prolonged exposure to the noxious fumes can cause respiratory problems similar to severe asthma. And that’s not to mention the sheer backbreaking nature of the work. One reason the men work in the mine, despite having a life expectancy of about 30, is that it pays marginally better than being a farmer.

 

There is a nearby crater lake, which from afar looks like it might be nice for a cool dip after a hard day of mining, but one would be seriously mistaken. The lake is a 90-degree pool of sulfuric acid in which nothing lives, and which would kill any that dared to swim in it. Birds have been reported to drop dead from the lake’s fumes and to fall into it if they fly overhead. There is no respite to be taken in the harsh volcanic world of Kawah Ijen.

Paradoxically, the unusually high sulfur concentrations that feed Kawah Ijen’s mining industry also result in brilliant blue flames that erupt from the volcano and flow lava-like down the mountain. The spectacular display, visible most nights, occurs when the volcano’s sulfuric gases reach the surface and ignite. Burning liquid sulfur creates the appearance of blue lava streaming down the mountainside. From a distance, Kawah Ijen appears not as an unforgiving workplace but as one more of nature’s odd and beautiful phenomena.

25 April 2020 - STUNNING KELIMUTU VOLCANO IN INDONESIA

STUNNING KELIMUTU VOLCANO

 IN INDONESIA

G'day folks,

Welcome to a beautiful part of the world where three wildly colorful calderas exist. 

Lakes, volcanoes, and colors are all on impressive display at the Kelimutu Volcano, an otherworldly series of geologic cauldrons that hold lakes of startling brilliance.

50 miles from the town of Moni on the Indonesian Island of Flores is Kelimutu Volcano and its three summit craters containing their three lakes. The westernmost of the lakes, Tiwu Ata Mbupu (Lake of Old People), is blue, while Tiwu Nuwa Muri Koo Fai (Lake of Young Men and Maidens) is green, and Tiwu Ata Polo (Bewitched or Enchanged Lake) is red, the latter two separated only by a crater wall.

Historically, the lakes have been the source of minor phreatic eruptions from the 1639 meter high Kelimutu volcano. In addition to being three different colors, the lakes’ color varies on a periodic basis, likely due to chemical reactions from the minerals in the lake triggered by volcanic gas activity, but no thorough studies have as yet been performed. That the three lakes are of the same volcano and are at the same crest, yet have different colors, is incredibly rare and of extreme interest to geologists.

The Kelimutu Volcano is one of nature’s most stunning displays of color and chemistry and has attracted a number of photographers and tourists over the years. So long as it never erupts, this candy-colored mountain is just a gentle giant. 

Clancy's comment: I would certainly suggest you visit this area. Indonesia is one of my favourite countries for obvious reasons. I've visited two other former volcanoes like these and they were simply stunning.

I'm ...

24 April 2015 - Mount St. HELENS

Mount St. HELENS

G'day folks,

The eruption of Mt. St. Helens in 1980 was the worst volcanic disaster in U.S. history; however, it offered scientists an exceptional opportunity to examine and study a large volcanic eruption, which has enriched scientific knowledge of volcanoes.

 Overview of Mt. St. Helens:

Mt. St. Helens is a composite volcano within the Cascade Range in what is now southern Washington, approximately 50 miles northwest of Portland, Oregon. Though Mt. St. Helens is approximately 40,000-years old, it is considered a relatively young, active volcano. 

 Mt. St. Helens historically has had four extended periods of volcanic activity (each lasting hundreds of years), interspersed with dormant periods (often lasting thousands of years). The volcano is currently in one of its active periods.

Native Americans living in the area have long known that this was not an ordinary mountain, but one that had fiery potential. Even the name, "Louwala-Clough," a Native American name for the volcano, means "smoking mountain." 

The volcano was first discovered by Europeans when British Commander George Vancouver of the H.M.S.Discovery spotted Mt. St. Helens from the deck of his ship while he was exploring the northern Pacific Coast from 1792 to 1794. Commander Vancouver named the mountain after his fellow countryman, Alleyne Fitzherbert, the Baron St. Helens, who was serving as the British ambassador to Spain.

Piecing together eyewitness descriptions and geologic evidence, it is believed that Mt. St. Helens erupted somewhere between 1600 and 1700, again in 1800, and then quite frequently during the 26-year span of 1831 to 1857. After 1857, the volcano grew quiet. Most people who viewed the 9,677-foot tall mountain during the 20th century, saw a picturesque backdrop rather than a potentially deadly volcano. Thus, not fearing an eruption, many people built houses around the base of the volcano.

On March 20, 1980, a 4.1 magnitude earthquake struck underneath Mt. St. Helens. This was the first warning sign that the volcano had reawakened. Scientists flocked to the area. On March 27, a small explosion blew a 250-foot hole in the mountain and released a plume of ash. This caused fears of injuries from rockslides so the entire area was evacuated. Similar eruptions to the one on March 27 continued for the next month. Though some pressure was being released, large amounts were still building.

 In April, a large bulge was noticed on the north face of the volcano. The bulge grew quickly, pushing outward about five feet a day. Though the bulge had reached a mile in length by the end of April, the plentiful plumes of smoke and seismic activity had begun to dissipate. Thus, as April drew to a close, officials were finding it increasingly difficult to maintain the evacuation orders and road closures due to pressures from homeowners and the media as well as from stretched budget issues.

At 8:32 a.m. on May 18, 1980, a 5.1 magnitude earthquake struck under Mt. St. Helens. Within ten seconds, the bulge and surrounding area fell away in a gigantic, rock avalanche. The avalanche created a gap in the mountain, allowing the release of pent-up pressure that erupted laterally in a huge blast of pumice and ash. The noise from the blast was heard as far away as Montana and California; however, those close to Mt. St. Helens reported hearing nothing. 

The avalanche, huge to begin with, quickly grew in size as it crashed down the mountain, traveling around 70 to 150 miles per hour and destroying everything in its path. The blast of pumice and ash traveled northward at 300 miles per hour and was a raging hot 660° F (350° C). The blast killed everything in a 200-square mile area. Within ten minutes, the plume of ash had reached 10 miles high. The eruption lasted nine hours. 

 For the scientists and others who were caught in the area, there was no way to outrun either the avalanche or the blast. Fifty-seven people were killed. It is estimated that about 7,000 large animals such as deer, elk, and bears were killed and thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of small animals died from the volcanic eruption. 

Mt. St. Helens had been surrounded by a lush forest of coniferous trees and numerous clear lakes before the blast. The eruption felled entire forests, leaving only burned tree trunks all flattened in the same direction. The amount of timber destroyed was enough to build about 300,000 two-bedroom homes. A river of mud traveled down the mountain, caused by melted snow and released groundwater, destroying approximately 200 houses, clogging up shipping channels in the Columbia River, and contaminating the beautiful lakes and creeks in the area. 

Mt. St. Helens is now only 8,363-feet tall, 1,314-feet shorter than it was before the explosion. Though this explosion was devastating, it will certainly not be the last eruption from this very active volcano.

  

Clancy's comment: Amazing, eh? And, humans still want to mess with nature, rather than learn to live with it in harmony.

I'm ...

  

13 February 2015 - MOUNT VESUVIUS - ITALY

MOUNT VESUVIUS - ITALY

G'day folks,

Welcome to another wild landmark in the world.  It may have happened almost 2000 years ago, but the world still remembers Pompeii and its fate, when Mount Vesuvius buried it in ash. Mount Vesuvius is still an active volcano today. It is the volcano with the most violent past, a past filled with historical eruptions. Despite that fact, it is a great place to visit!

Vesuvius is the only active volcano in mainland Europe, and has produced some of the continent's largest volcanic eruptions. Located on Italy's west coast, it overlooks the Bay and City of Naples and sits in the crater of the ancient Somma volcano. Though the volcano's last eruption was in 1944, it still represents a great danger to the cities that surround it, especially the busy metropolis of Naples.

Mount Vesuvius: Plate Tectonic Setting

Vesuvius is part of the Campanian volcanic arc, a line of volcanoes that formed over a subduction zone created by the convergence of the African and Eurasian plates. This subduction zone stretches the length of the Italian peninsula, and is also the source of other volcanoes like Mount Etna, the Phlegraean Fields (Campi Flegrei), Vulcano, and Stromboli. Under Vesuvius, the lower part of the subducting slab has torn and detached from the upper part to form what is called a "slab window". This makes Vesuvius' rocks slightly different chemically from the rocks erupted from the other Campanian volcanoes.

Mount Vesuvius: Eruption History

Mount Vesuvius has experienced eight major eruptions in the last 17,000 years. The 79 AD eruption is one of the most well known ancient eruptions in the world, and may have killed more than 16,000 people. Ash, mud and rocks from this eruption buried the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Pompeii is famous for the casts the hot ash formed around victims of the eruptions. The unfortunate people suffocated on ash in the air, which then covered them and preserved amazing details of their clothing and faces.

Starting in 1631, Vesuvius entered a period of steady volcanic activity, including lava flows and eruptions of ash and mud. Violent eruptions in the late 1700s, 1800s and early 1900s created more fissures, lava flows, and ash-and-gas explosions. These damaged or destroyed many towns around the volcano, and sometimes killed people; the eruption of 1906 had more than 100 casualties. The most recent eruption was in 1944 during World War II. It caused major problems for the newly-arrived Allied forces in Italy when ash and rocks from the eruption destroyed planes and forced evacuations at a nearby airbase.

 Now, here are some other shots of this amazing volcano.

Clancy's comment: I have been to Pompeii and found it amazing. I also love this part of Italy. The view of the bay of Naples from the mountains is spectacular, the people are great and so is the food. It is a great place to spend some quality time.

I'm ...