The walk around the Sulphur Springs is a spit from the visitor center. Signs warn about breathing hazards, especially for those pregnant or with heart disease. Although found in all living cells, sulphur can combine with moisture to create sulfurous acid which is pretty tough on the lungs. The steam here is from rainwater that seeps into the cracks and strikes the hot rocks below.
Here's some shots of the wasteland. Many miles below this spot, gases begin their assent through fissures produced over 500 years ago when Kilauea's summit collapses.
The magma far below releases sulphur and other hot gases. These inhibit plant growth...
...but do create their own strange scenery. The trail leads through a terrace between the inner and outer walls of Kilauea Caldera
The Hawaiians named this area Ha'akulamanu -- meaning this place if for the birds! The gases inhibited the growth of deep-rooted trees, allowing habitat for open-country birds. Man has brought alien plants which have thrived at the expense of the local vegetation -- and the birds who foraged among it.
Here's a rock stew: to those old rock-killers of time and water, this spot adds heat and acid. The result is hydrothermal alteration of the basalt that Kilauea deposited here.
At this temperature, sulphur is a bright yellow. The Hawaiians thought it to be the urine of the Fire-god, Pele. (Do Eskimos really not eat yellow snow? If so, which of their many words for snow do they use for that? Use your Inuit-ion.)
Some plants have adapted well to these gases....
...even an occasional orchid!
