Forces of Nature

Elements

The forces of nature make Earth a restless planet, but they also turned our ball of rock into a home for life. How did our planet’s ingredients, the chemical elements, come together and take that first crucial step from barren rock to a living world?

At the Kawah Ijen

2m 50s

At the Kawah Ijen volcano in Indonesia, bright yellow elemental sulphur is mined, but the valuable sulphur is also flammable and easily catches fire. It burns with a blue flame but also produces choking fumes of sulphur dioxide. Each night a team of workers must brave the harsh conditions and put out the flames to keep the mine active and the sulphur pure.

Previews + Extras

  • Diving Through a Halocline: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Diving Through a Halocline

    S1 E2 - 2m 14s

    Beneath a forest in the Dominican Republic, divers explore an underground limestone cave system which has been carved out by water. The water in the cave is exceptionally clear but deep inside the cave system they encounter a rare phenomenon known as a halocline, where fresh water from the cave meets sea water that has seeped inland from the coast, and meet with a beautiful boundary layer.

  • Episode 2 Preview | Elements: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Episode 2 Preview | Elements

    S1 E2 - 30s

    Learn how Earth’s ingredients, the chemical elements, transformed barren rock into a living world. FORCES OF NATURE "Elements" premieres Wednesday, September 21 at 8/7c.

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