The Volcano of Kawah Ijen in Indonesia That Spews Blue Lava

At first look you might consider the otherworldly light in these pictures comes from a nebula or another planet deep in outer space or probably you have heard of "red hot lava" or "white hot" to describe searing temperatures, so but what about "blue hot lava"? Kawah Ijen is one of several volcanoes located within the 20 kilometers wide Ijen Caldera in East Java, Indonesia. The caldera of Kawah Ijen harbors a kilometer-wide, turquoise colored, acidic crater lake that leaks sulphurous gases constantly. That's the surreal hue of Indonesia's Kawah Ijen Volcano, which glows with an otherworldly "blue lava".

Normally at night the hot gases burn to emit an eerie blue glow that is distinctive to Kawah Ijen. These gases emerge from the cracks in the volcano at high pressure and temperature, up to 600°C, and when they come in contact with the air, they ignite, sending flames up to 16 feet high. Specific gases condense into liquid sulfur, and continues to burn as it flows down the slopes giving the feeling of blue lava flowing. Kawah Ijen’s sulphuric gases are also mined for sulphur. The volcanic gases are trapped by the native miners and channeled through a network of ceramic pipes, which in result of condensation of molten sulfur.

The sulfur, normally red in color when molten, pours gradually from the ends of these pipes and pools on the ground, turning bright yellow as it cools.

The expert miners break the cooled material into big pieces and carry it away in baskets to an adjacent refinery. In this way an expert worker can earn up to $13 dollars a day. Therefore you can’t imagine the intense heat and extremely hazardous condition with insufficient protection. Many workers suffer various respiratory problems due to breathing toxic fumes day in and out. So they’d prefer to work at night to escape the heat of the sun, and to earn extra income as well. These astonishing images are captured by photographer Olivier Grunewald, who lost two lenses and a camera to sulphuric corrosion while trying to capture the mysterious pictures.

Verzasca River Switzerland

The Verzasca River is famous for its crystal clear, turquoise water, vibrant colored rocks and treacherous currents. It is located in the heart of Swiss Alps and its length is about 30 kilometers flows with mountains. The beautiful Verzasca River is originating at Pizzo Barone and flowing into Lake Maggiore. The Verzasca Dam is a few kilometers upriver from this lake. This dam is remarkable as one of the highest dam in Europe about 220 meters. Dam access is possible by postal bus and by car. It is possible to walk along the dam wall about 380 meters and enjoy the view of the valley from there. The Verzasca River valley is in Ticino, the Italian-speaking region of Switzerland. Its water is crystal clear, and the depth does not exceed 10 meters. Its average temperature is 7 - 10 °C and chestnut trees thrive at the bottom of the valley.

The river is a famous for scuba diving location and the valley is used for bungee jumping. The diving conditions are generally best from late spring to early autumn.  Its beauty had only been captured from the surface. Photographer Claudio Gazzaroli decided to change that, so he put on a diving suit, took his waterproof camera and dived onto the riverbed to take some truly stunning images.  He said; I wanted to show the real beauty of this place in an innovative way. The two main sites on this place are the river itself has naturally crystal clear waters and the bridge over the river constructed by man. I’m simply amazed of water clarity, and love this place and visited countless times. I wanted to have captured underwater world for many years. But only now am I happy with the picture.

 

Tarakul Lake of Tajikistan

Lake Karakul is also called "Black Lake" (black when the sun is hidden by clouds.) actually located in the Pamir Mountains in Tajikistan, within the Tajik National Park, in one of the most beautiful and remote high and driest location in Central Asia. It is a deep brackish-water lake lying in a closed basin at an altitude of 3,900 meters above sea level. The lake is famous among travelers for its fantastic scenery and the clarity of its reflection in the water, whose color ranges from a dark green to azure and light blue during the summer. The beautiful lake is well surrounded by high mountains which block humid air masses; the valley receives not as much of 30 mm of precipitation a year making it one of the driest places in Central Asia. A curious fact of Karakul Lake is that its banks rest on ice for a significant length and ice also covers the bottom of the lake. Scientists and researchers do not agree on the source of this ice. As some of thinks that these are the remnants of ancient glaciers, but few explain it as the remains of an ice shield that filled the hollow during the ice age. Whereas others believed that the ice is a modern formation.

Tarakul Lake is entirely frozen in between October to May and forms a white expanse when viewed from Karakul village where a small community of Kyrgyz people survives through nomadic herding of yaks, sheep and goats. Although the lake lies within a national park, much of the surrounds are used as pasture. The lake is the place of significant populations of various birds either as residents or as breeding or passage migrants.  Therefore; the only fish in the lake is a species of stone loach. Tarakul lake is believed to came into existence when a meteor struck the earth roughly 25 million years ago. Ultimately melt water from the surrounding mountains filled the basin forming Lake Karakul with a diameter of 25 kilometers. Before, the lake was famous as “Lake Victoria” until the early 20th century, named after Queen Victoria of Britain, but the name was changed with the advent of the Soviet system in the 1920s.

The Lake has two basins separated by a peninsula from the south and an island in the north. The island is 8 kilometers long and 4 kilometers wide, and the strait between them is 1 kilometers wide. The lake east basin is comparatively shallow with a mean depth of 22 meters, while the west basin has a deepest point of 236 meters. Three rivers flow into Lake Karakul, but there being no outlet, the water is very salty. The Karakul lake impact structure remained mysterious until the latest geological research undertaken by Russian scientists along with studies of imagery taken from space which let selected scholars to diagnose Karakul Lake depression as meteorite impact crater with a rim diameter of 52 KM and created some 230 -190 mln years ago.

The Sawtooth Valley United States

The Sawtooth Valley is a scenic valley in the western United States, in Blaine and Custer counties in central Idaho between the Sawtooth National Recreation Area (SNRA) on its west and the White Cloud Mountains on its east, with the Smoky and Boulder Mountains on the south. About 50 kilometers long, it is beautifully surrounded by the Sawtooth Mountains to the west, White Cloud Mountains to the east, Salmon River Mountains to the north, and Boulder and Smoky mountains to the south. It is the largest high mountain valley in Idaho and it has been inhabited by one or more wolf packs ever since 1998. The beautiful valley contains the headwaters of the Salmon River, the city of Stanley, and community of Sawtooth City. It is an awesome place that begs you to pull over, lock the car, and put some ground under your feet or a trout stream around your knees. At its picturesque heart stands the splintering crest of the Sawtooth Range, a chaos of crags, razorback ridges, and small alpine lakes and tremendous view of its jagged northern edge rising over a wetland meadow, stop at the Park Creek Overlook.

The SNRA offers many attractions i.e. biking, camping, hiking, horseback riding, hunting, fishing, and remarkable wildflower viewing. The best time to see the wildflower is in the late spring when the snow melts and the ground gets warms. There’re three sensitive plant species that are endemic to the Stanley Basin: Stanley Whitlow Grass, Guardian Buckwheat and Stanley Thalaspi. Furthermore; the endemic species, the SNRA is also home to an insectivorous species, Spoon-leaved Sundew.

Therefore; in order to assure the preservation and protection of the natural, historic, scenic, pastoral, fish & wildlife values and to provide for the enhancement of the recreational values associated there with the SNRA includes four mountain ranges: the Sawtooths, the Boulders, the White Clouds, and the Smokies. This region has more than 1,000 high mountain lakes and is the headwaters of 4 of Idaho’s major rivers: the Salmon, the South Fork of the Payette, the Boise, and the Big Wood.

The complete length of the valley is traversed by State Highway 75, which is also recognized as the Sawtooth Scenic Byway. Highway 75 enters the valley from the south at Galena Summit and exits to the north near Stanley. Moreover; highway 75 was formerly United States 93, which is now routed through Arco. Sawtooth Valley encompasses several large lakes in the SNRA, including Redfish, Stanley lakes, Alturas, and Pettit. The valley floor elevations range from just under 6,300 feet near Stanley to over 7,500 feet below Galena Summit. Elevations along the valley's borders reach 11,815 feet at Castle Peak in the White Cloud Mountains to the east and 10,715 feet at Thompson Peak in the Sawtooth Mountains to the west. Travelers are treated to a scenic drive en route to the SNRA from any starting point. There are a variety of ways to reach the SNRA. Consulting a map source would be the best way to determine the easiest route.