Where would you find sulfur?

Question

A character in my novel (a teenager who goes back in time) combines sulfur, bat guano, and charcoal or honey to make an explosive. Gunpowder was made out of these in the civil war, for example. Where would my character find the sulfur?

Answer 1

Look for any spring or lake that smells like rotten eggs. Better yet, find a town called Sulfur springs or Sulfur. This town was probably named for the smell or for mines in the area.

You will find yellow deposits or yellow crystals around this area and these can be used as a source of sulfur. Sulfur forms around springs in little yellow mounds that look like ant hills or can be higher. Crystaline sulfur is clear yellow and can be found on the surface in some areas.

Answer 2

There could be deposits of sulfur around volcanoes from past activity. Your character will have to process the bat guano (sodium nitrate, Chilean saltpeter) into potassium nitrate. (S)he should find a deposit of potassium chloride in the dried seabed of a prehistoric sea. Fractional crystallization should yield KNO3 and NaCl. Also, tell her to avoid honey and go with charcoal.

An account of the "rediscovery" of gunpowder in the postapocalypic future appears in "Ridley Walker." Amazon.com has a cheap paperback of it.

Answer 3

in a volcano and what book is it i want to read it, it sounds good