Denakil Depression

Denakil is an area of singular geological fascination: a strange lunar landscape studded with active volcanoes, malodorous sulfur-caked hot springs, solidified black lava flows, and vast salt-encrusted basins. Much of this vast and practically unpopulated region lies below sea level -116 m at Dallol one of the driest and most tectonically active areas on the planet. It is some measure of the Danakil's geological activity that more than 30 active or dormant volcanoes – roughly a quarter of the African total – is listed there. Currently, activity is in the form of hot brine springs. Salts washed out of the underlying layers are transported to the surface by geothermal heated water and rapidly crystallize as the water evaporates.

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