Acidic Crater Lake

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Ijen Crater, East Java, Indonesia.

This beautiful warm lake with its blue-greenish water look very inviting but it corrosive and dangerous!
Kawah Ijen (Ijen crater) is the world's largest highly acidic volcanic lake. The crater size is about 960 meters x 600 meters with a depth of 200 meters is so acidic that it can dissolve clothes and human flesh. The acid measure is almost zero (pH<0.5) about similar to the strength of car battery acid.
I tried to touch the water using my finger, its very warm and it taste salty. Please don't try this, i got my finger itched for about 30minutes!

The best time to go down to Ijen crater lake is in the morning between 4.00 to 9.00 am. Around 10am the wind starting to blows the acid smokes of sulfur to the walkpath. It will be hard to climb down or up when it got covered with those sulfur smokes.
If you are in this situation and you don't have a mask, pour some water on the tissue or handkerchief. Cover your nose+mouth with it, breathing through your mouth. Stay low behind the rocks and don't be panic!

Please check out George Kourounis - Boating on a Lake of Sulfuric Acid

Canon EOS 50D + EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM
EXIF: 0.05 sec • f/14• 10 mm • ISO 100
Exposure Mode + White Balance: Manual
Filters: Lee soft 3stops
Software: Digital Photo Pro + Adobe Photoshop CS3

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View 20 more comments

  1. boydbrooks999 30 months ago | reply

    Marvelous!! The water is so acidic that "it can dissolve clothes and human flesh" and yet you dipped your finger in it? What were you thinking? Hahahaha :--))

  2. emvri85 30 months ago | reply

    WOW, wonderful shot, the color of the lake is really fantastic, but it seems dangerous !!

  3. andre_meda_pd 30 months ago | reply

    I love indonesia,,,

  4. Unlimit℮d 17 months ago | reply

    Thats such a nice blue on the water. Beautiful shot all around.

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