Ijen

Type of volcano: Stratovolcano.

Location: East Java, Indonesia

Altitude: 2799m.

The Ijen volcano complex at the eastern end of Java consists of a group of small stratovolcanoes constructed within the large 20-km-wide Ijen (Kendeng) caldera. The north caldera wall forms a prominent arcuate ridge, but elsewhere the caldera rim is buried by post-caldera volcanoes, including Gunung Merapi stratovolcano, which forms the 2799 m high point of the Ijen complex. Immediately west of Gunung Merapi is the renowned historically active Kawah Ijen volcano, which contains a nearly 1-km-wide, turquoise-colored, acid crater lake. Picturesque Kawah Ijen is the world’s largest highly acidic lake and is the site of a labor-intensive sulfur mining operation in which sulfur-laden baskets are hand-carried from the crater floor.

Read more in depth information about Ijen at: The Smithsonian’s Global Volcanism Program

26th December 2012

Photos: 11

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The blue flame of Ijen seen during full moon on the 26th December 2012
The blue flame of Ijen seen during full moon on the 26th December 2012
The blue flame of Ijen seen during full moon on the 26th December 2012
The blue flame of Ijen seen during full moon on the 26th December 2012

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Workers mine sulfur from the volcano
Workers mine sulfur from the volcano

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