AFAR DEPRESSION; ERITREA, DJIBOUTI AND ETHIOPIAThe Afar Depression (aka the Danakil Depression) is a

AFAR DEPRESSION; ERITREA, DJIBOUTI AND ETHIOPIAThe Afar Depression (aka the Danakil Depression) is a geological depression caused by the Afar Triple Junction, part of the Great Rift Valley. The Afar Depression overlaps Eritrea, Djibouti and the entire Afar Region of Ethiopia. The Afar Triangle includes the Danakil Depression and Lake Asal, which is the lowest point in Africa at 155 metres below sea level. The photo shows a hot spring within the Afar Depression. Dallol (https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=385595664834817&set=a.352867368107647.80532.352857924775258&type=3&theater) is also part of the depression. The floor of the Afar Depression is composed of mostly basaltic lava.The name Afar Triangle refers to the area being the product of a tectonic triple junction, where the spreading mid ocean ridges that form the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden emerge on land and meet the East African Rift. These three pieces of the Earth’s crust meet around Lake Abbe. Beneath this Lake is a source of volcanic heat which causes hot water to rise through the layers of salt and anhydride products. The area is extremely dry with annual rainfall average about 10 to 18 centimetres; temperatures range from 25°C in monsoons to 48°C in the dry season. Aside from Iceland, the Afar Depression is the only place on Earth where a mid-ocean ridge can be studied on land.In the Depression itself, the Earth’s crust is rifting apart at the rate of 1-2 centimetres a year along each of the 3 rifts which form the triple junction. The consequence of this is a continuous sequence of earthquakes. Eruptions have occurred at Dabbahu and Erta Ale volcanoes (https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=380997365294647&set=a.352867368107647.80532.352857924775258&type=3&theater), as well as in Teru and Aura woredas. In 2005, 2.5 cubic kilometres of molten rock was injected into one of the plates along a dyke between depths of 2 and 9 km, forcing open an 8 metre wide gap on the surface, known as the Dabbahu fissure.The area also contains many salt deposits; in some places the salt deposits are 5 km thick. The salt deposits have been created by water from the Red Sea flooding the Afar Depression and then evaporating. The Red Sea is expected, over millions of years, to erode through the highlands surrounding the Afar Depression and flood the valley. In 10 million years the whole 6,000 km of the East African Rift is expected to be submerged and form a new sea. Afar is also known as one of the cradles of hominids, containing the Middle Awash, the site of many fossil hominid discoveries such as Ardi, (Ardipithecus ramidus the Gona (Gawis cranium and Hadar, site of Lucy, the fossilised specimen of Australopithecus afarensis.-TELRead more: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2012/01/afar-depression/morell-text; http://broadcanvas.blogspot.co.nz/2012/04/danakil-depression-hottest-place-on.html;http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v442/n7100/full/nature04978.htmlPhoto: Carsten Peter for National Geographichttp://maxcdn.fooyoh.com/files/attach/images/1097/439/006/001/danakil.jpgOther TES posts on this area:http://on.fb.me/1r9pNGChttp://on.fb.me/1Cb148Shttp://on.fb.me/1JwpjQUhttp://on.fb.me/1CfddXChttp://on.fb.me/1GAJ87f -- source link

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