Men at Work You also see men working. Here, local people put long pipes into the fumaroles to capture the sulfur gas coming out of the ground. T ey cool these pipes with water, and the sulfur gas turns into liquid. When the orange sulfur liquid pours out of the pipes, it dries and turns yellow. Now the sulfur isn’t a gas or a liquid. It’s solid rock. And this rock is valuable. Workers hike into the crater every day to
gather chunks of dried sulfur. T ey load baskets of sulfur rock weighing up to 80 kilograms or more. T en they carry their loads up and out of the volcano. T e workers sell the sulfur. It’s used in factories to make products such as matches and rubber tires for cars. T e more they carry, the more they earn. But this is hard work. Breathing in gases from
the volcano and carrying such heavy loads is harmful to the workers’ health. Both Pallister and Caudron share information about the volcano with the workers. Some workers use special masks to protect their lungs as they work, but most can’t aff ord them. During your hike out of the crater, you think
about all you have seen. T e mystery of the blue flames has been solved. And now you know how important Kawah Ijen is to all who live here.
Workers climb up and down the volcano to mine sulfur. Some of the baskets weigh as much as 80 kilograms.
Wordwise fumarole: an opening in or near a volcano, through which hot gases and steam flow into the air
geologist: a scientist who studies what Earth is made of and how it formed
lava: melted rock that flows from a volcano
magma: partly melted rock inside Earth
vent: a passageway up and out of a volcano through which magma erupts
volcano: a vent in Earth’s crust through which lava, steam, and ashes erupt
volcanologist: a geologist who studies the eruptive activity and formation of volcanoes
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