Elly Shofia
Danakil is a desert area in northern Ethiopia, Africa. This desert is famous for being a very dangerous place, and sometimes this desert is called The Gateway to Hell.
This desert is the hottest, remotest, driest, and lowest place on Earth. In addition, this desert is located 100 meters below sea level.
There are many volcanoes in this desert, such as Mount Erta Ale and Dabbahu. Making this place the cruelest place on earth.
This desert has pools of water and rocks that are striking in color, yellow, green, brown, and red. These gorgeous colors are a turn-off.
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Extreme Temperatures in Danakil
Danakil has an average temperature of 34.5 degrees Celsius. The hottest temperature in this desert reaches 50 degrees Celsius.
This extreme temperature will make it difficult for living things to survive in this desert.
Meeting of 3 Ticton Plates
The Danakil Desert was formed by the Afar Triple Junction, a confluence of 3 tectonic plate fractures that cut through Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Djibouti.
This crack is still active today and is the largest crack in the earth.
The existence of these cracks makes this desert predicted to sink into the ocean in the next 10 million years.
Beautiful and Deadly Sulfur Water Pool
The Danakil Desert has two active volcanoes, boiling hot springs, and vast salt flats.
In this desert, there is a beautiful pool of sulfur water. The color of the water is deep green with reddish-brown rocks all around.
One of the lakes in this desert is Dallol. This lake was formed as a result of the heat from two volcanoes and rainwater that fell with a high acid content that the shape of this lake is greenish and reddish.
This salt field in the desert is predicted by geologists to have existed for thousands of years.
The process of forming this salt desert is due to the Danakil Desert which is at a low point that when the Red Sea overflows and evaporates it covers this area for 30,000 years.
At night, the fire craters and sparkling sulfur rocks will look beautiful. However, these craters and rocks are very dangerous.
The acid content of the water in this desert is approximately PH 0.2. This substance is not good for humans, but the Afar tribe still lives around this desert.
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Avar Tribe Lives in Danakil
Even though it is terrible to survive in this desert, there are still people who live in the desert. The Afar tribe lives in this desert.
The Afar tribe lives in Hamadela Village. The desert has natural salt lakes that are important to the Afar people.
The Afar people call this salt mining site white gold. The Afar tribe used to be known for their nomadic life, moving from one place to another.
Afar tribes settled around the desert of Danakil. Afar’s daily activity is the extraction of salt, which is still cut into tiles by hand and transported by camels.
The Afar have a social structure based on clan and extended family, where the patriarch of each family has a fundamental role in decision-making.