Men at Work You also see men working. Here, local people put pipes into the fumaroles to capture the sulfur gas. T ey cool these pipes with water, and the gas turns into liquid. When the 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 it’s valuable. Workers hike into the crater each day


to gather chunks of dried sulfur. T ey load baskets that weigh up to 80 kilograms. T ey carry their loads up and out of the volcano. T e workers sell the sulfur. It’s used to make products like rubber tires for cars. T e more they carry, the more they earn. But it’s hard work. Breathing in gases and


carrying heavy loads can be harmful. Some workers use special masks to protect their lungs, but most can’t aff ord them. During your hike back to the top, you


think about the volcano. T e mystery of the blue lava is solved. Now you know how important Kawah Ijen is to all who live here.


Workers climb up and down the volcano night and day 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


OCTOBER 2015 15


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