Blue Volcano

"Blue lava" is an electric-blue fire that burns when sulfur combusts, producing a neon-blue flame. Sulfur
burns when it comes into contact with hot air at temperatures above 360 °C (680 °F), which produces
the energetic flames.[2] Actual lava is red-orange in color, given its temperature. Truly-blue lava would
require temperatures of at least 6,000 °C (10,830 °F), which is much higher than any lava can naturally
achieve on the surface of the Earth.[3]

The most famous of these fires occur regularly on Indonesia's Kawa Ijen volcano, on the island of Java,
which has some of the highest levels of sulfur in the world, and is also the site of sulfur mining. Due to
the occurrence of the flames, Kawa Ijen has also been nicknamed "the Blue Volcano".[2] The crater of
Kawa Ijen is the world's largest blue flame area.[1] Kawa Ijen has large amounts of sulfur deposits and
fumaroles, and the high temperatures from the underground volcanic heat frequently combusts the
sulfur on the surface of the volcano, producing the blue fires.[4] When sulfur from within the volcano
breaches the surface, it can reach temperatures up to 600 °C (1,112 °F), and the sulfur immediately
encounters lower temperatures and pressures at the surface, which causes the sulfur to immediately
ignite and erupt blue flames up to 5 metres (16 ft) into the air.[5][6] At such high temperatures, the
sulfur melts, which sometimes flows down the face of the volcano while carrying the flames with it,
making it appear as if blue lava is flowing down the volcano.[4] Due to the blue color of the flames, the
fires are essentially visible only at nighttime, as they are otherwise indistinguishable during the daytime.
[4][2][7]

Another location in which "blue lava" is regularly seen is on Dallol mountain, in Ethiopia.[8] The blue
fires also occur in Yellowstone National Park during wildfires, when fires burn and melt the large
amounts of sulfur present in the park, creating the appearance of burning blue rivers of lava during such
events. Remnants of past episodes exist on the ground in the form of black lines, where fires have
previously melted sulfur.[7] Similar blue flames were observed on Kīlauea in May 2018, during the
volcano's 2018 lower Puna eruption, when lava from the volcano burned methane that had been
trapped underground.[9]