2. Kawah Ijen Volcano by night In East Java, Indonesia lies Kawah Ijen volcano, 2,600 meters tall (8,660ft), topped with a large caldera and a 200-meter-deep lake of sulfuric acid. The quietly active volcano emits gases through fumaroles inside the crater, and local miners have tapped those gases to earn a living. Stone and ceramic pipes cap the fumaroles, and inside, the sulfur condenses into a molten red liquid, dripping back down and solidifying into pure sulfur. Miners hack chunks off with steel bars, braving extremely dangerous gases and liquids with minimal protection, then load up as much as they can carry for the several kilometers to the weighing station. Loads can weigh from 45 to 90kg (100 - 200 lbs), and a single miner might make as many as two or three trips in a day. At the end of a long day, miners take home approximately Rp50,000 ($5.00 u.s.). The sulfur is then used for vulcanizing rubber, bleaching sugar and other industrial processes nearby.  Photographer Olivier Grunewald (born 1959, French photographer and author, with the main focus on nature, landscapes and wildlife) has recently made several trips into the sulfur mine in the crater of the Kawah Ijen volcano in East Java, Indonesia, bringing with him equipment to capture surreal images lit by moonlight, torches, and the blue flames of burning molten sulfur. Covered last year in the Big Picture (in daylight), the miners of the 2,600 meter tall (8,660ft) Kawah Ijen volcano trek up to the crater, then down to the shore of a 200-meter-deep crater lake of sulfuric acid, where they retrieve heavy chunks of pure sulfur to carry back to a weighing station. Mr. Grunewald has been kind enough to share with us the following other-worldly photos of these men as they do their hazardous work under the light of the moon. Clic ï
33. A traditional miner carries sulfur from the Ijen volcano complex on May 24, 2009 outside Banyuwangi, East Java, Indonesia. (Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images)
34. A miner extracts sulfur from pipe at the flow crater at the Ijen volcano complex on May 24, 2009 in East Java, Indonesia. The molten sulfur emerges from the pipes colored deep red, and gradually turns a yellow shade as it cools and hardens. (Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images )
35. Detail of sulfur chunks mined within the Ijen volcano complex on May 24, 2009, East Java, Indonesia. (Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images )
36. Miners carry sulfur out of the Kawah Ijen crater on May 25, 2009. (Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images)
37. A presentation by Nubia [email_address] http://nubiagroup-powerpoint-collection.blogspot.com/ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Nubia_group_Powerpoint_Collection/