Danakil Depression
The Danakil Depression is the northern part of the
Geology
The Danakil Depression lies at the
IUGS geological heritage site
In respect of it demonstrating 'the ongoing birth of an ocean witnessed through tectonics and volcanism in an extreme evaporite arid environment', the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) included 'The Danakil Rift depression and its volcanism' in its assemblage of 100 'geological heritage sites' around the world in a listing published in October 2022. The organisation defines an IUGS Geological Heritage Site as 'a key place with geological elements and/or processes of international scientific relevance, used as a reference, and/or with a substantial contribution to the development of geological sciences through history.'[4]
Location
The Danakil
The area is often referred to as the cradle of
Features
The Danakil Depression is the hottest place on Earth in terms of year-round average temperatures. It is also one of the lowest places on the planet at 100 metres (330 ft) below sea level,[7] and without rain for most of the year. Here, the Awash River dries up in a chain of salt lakes such as Lake Afrera, never reaching the Indian Ocean.[8]
Hot springs
Among the geological points of interest to tourists are the
Gaet'ale Pond is a small hypersaline lake located over a tectonic hot spring in the Danakil Depression (Afar, Ethiopia). With a salinity of 43%, Gaet'ale Pond is the saltiest water body on Earth.[13] The pond was created in January 2005 following an earthquake, according to residents of the Ahmed'ela village, which reactivated the hot spring.[14]
See also
References
- .
- ^ a b c d Yee, Amy (30 January 2017). "Gazing Into Danakil Depression's Mirror, and Seeing Mars Stare Back". The New York Times. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
- ISBN 978-3-540-76373-4.
- ^ "The First 100 IUGS Geological Heritage Sites" (PDF). IUGS International Commission on Geoheritage. IUGS. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
- ISBN 978-0-08-086964-3.
- ISBN 9780684810232.
- ^ a b c "Hydrothermal Systems Show Spectrum of Extreme Life on Earth". Europlanet. Astrobiology Web. 26 April 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
- ^ "Africa's Danakil Desert – National Geographic Magazine". Ngm.nationalgeographic.com. Archived from the original on 16 April 2010. Retrieved 10 December 2013.
- PMID 31666740.
- ^ Andrews, Robin George (1 November 2019). "They Didn't Find Life in a Hopeless Place - In some of the world's wettest, most acidic bodies of superheated water, even the most extreme forms of archaea couldn't survive". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
- PMID 30801049.
- ^ "Yellow lake is located in the Danakil Depression". Independent Travellers. independent-travellers.com. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
- S2CID 132715553.
- .
External links
- Danakil Depression – video clip from BBC Planet Earth