Photo courtesy of NPS
Some things shouldn’t need to be said. But twitter user Jay Furr asked the US Geological Service (USGS) a doozy of a question about Hawaii’s erupting Kilauea Volcano. It may have been tongue-in-cheek, but the USGS wasn’t taking any chances.
Is it safe to roast marshmallows over volcanic vents? Assuming you had a long enough stick, that is? Or would the resulting marshmallows be poisonous?
To which the USGS replied:
Erm…we’re going to have to say no, that’s not safe. (Please don’t try!) If the vent is emitting a lot of SO2 or H2S, they would taste BAD. And if you add sulfuric acid (in vog, for example) to sugar, you get a pretty spectacular reaction.
By the way, vog is a form of air pollution that results when sulfur dioxide and other gases and particles emitted by the volcano react with oxygen and moisture in the presence of sunlight. The word is a combination of the words “volcanic”, “smog”, and “fog”.
Here’s the exchange again:
I’ve hiked across lava flows in Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park. And it’s amazing to be so close to flowing lava. The otherworldly landscape, the heat, and the sizzling, oozing magma is an experience I’ll never forget. But it never occurred to me to ask about toasting marshmallows. So kudos to Jay Furr for originality!
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