Danakil Depression
Danakil Depression is situated at the head of the African Rift Valley, in the Afar Triangle, on the so-called triple point, the Danakil Depression constitutes one of the lowest places on earth; it’s 100 below sea level depression, the direct result of the retreating actions of the Arabian and (two halves of) the African plate. Located thus, the area is especially volatile. The earth’s crust here is especially thin, the resultant volcanic activity the explanation for the depression’s extraordinary landscape – cones, shields, lava, geysers and salt pans.
The average temperature is 35°C – there are days when temperatures exceed 48°C – and an average annual rainfall of between 100 and 200m, it is rightly considered one of the hottest places on earth.
This place is Home to the nomadic Afar peoples, its one main industry the mining, transport and sale of salt or amor, the Danakil Depression and wider desert is the preserve of a civilisation that occupies the borderlands of Eritrea and Djibouti – as well as Ethiopia.
Their language a part of the Cushtic branch of the Afro-Asiatic, Muslim and traditionally divided between the noble Asaemara and the desert-dwelling Adaemara, Afar society breaks down into clans. Wealth is measured by livestock, prowess – and with it, rights to marriage – by warrior capabilities. The trade of salt is a major source of revenue. in every respect, they're amazing people.
Danakil Depression is best to be visited between November and March, when temperatures drop to a sweltering average of 25 °C.
ERTA ALE
Erta Ale is centered over the East African Rift system, which is a triple junction setting whose movements are resulting in the formation of a pull-apart basin or rift. The volcano comprises various materials which have been brought up to the surface caused by unroofing of the mantle due to this rift formation.
Erta Ale is 613 metres (2,011 ft) high, with one or sometimes two active lava lakes at the summit which occasionally overflow on the south side of the volcano. It is notable for holding the longest-existing lava lake, present since the early years of the twentieth century (1906). Volcanoes with lava lakes are very rare: there are only eight in the world.
Erta Ale means "smoking mountain" in the local Afar language and its southernmost pit is known locally as "the gateway to Hell". In 2009, it was mapped by a team from the BBC using three-dimensional laser techniques, in order for the mapping team to maintain a distance and avoid the lakes' searingly hot temperatures.
DALLOL
Dallol is a cinder cone volcano in the Danakil Depression, although its unique geology means it lacks any of the archetypal volcanic looks. Instead, Dallol is a canvas of bright green, reds, and yellows distributed across hundreds of hot acidic springs and mounds of salt deposits.
The hydrothermal activity below the Dallol crater is responsible for this kaleidoscopic landscape. As groundwater diffuses across from the highlands, it is heated by the magma below Dallol and pushed through the crater, dissolving salts and other minerals in the process. These minerals oxidize to create colourful, supersaturated hot springs. The intense heat of the Danakil then evaporates the water, leaving behind colourful salt formations that demarcate the springs.
The wild Dallol landscape is the result of ongoing geological processes, which means Dallol is an extremely dynamic landscape, with new springs and salt formations arising continuously. Although similar in appearance to colourful springs of America’s Yellowstone National Park, Dallol’s colours arise from inorganic, geological processes, rather than biological ones.
The intense heat of the Danakil Depression, combined with the extreme concentrations of salts, potash, and other minerals in the hot springs makes Dallol prime research ground for poly extremophile microbes, which may hold clues as to how life began on Earth, and how life might exist on other planets like Mars.
