Danakil Desert

The Danakil Desert (or Afar Desert) is a desert in northeast Ethiopia, southern Eritrea, and northwestern Djibouti. Situated in the Afar Triangle, it stretches across 136,956 km2 of arid terrain. It is inhabited by a few Afar, who engage in salt mining. The area is known for its volcanoes and extreme heat, with daytime temperatures surpassing 50 C. Less than 25 mm of rainfall occurs each year. The Danakil Desert is one of the lowest and hottest places on Earth.

Climate
Dallol (92 metres below sea level), has the highest average temperature recorded on earth. Dallol features an extreme version of a hot desert climate (Köppen climate classification BWh) typical of the Danakil Desert. Dallol is the hottest place year-round on the planet and currently holds the record high average temperature for an inhabited location on Earth, where an average annual temperature of 34.6 °C (94.3 °F) was recorded between the years 1960 and 1966. The annual average high temperature is 41.2 °C (105.4 °F) and the hottest month has an average high of 46.7 °C (116.1 °F). The highest temperature ever recorded is 49 °C (121 °F). In addition to being extremely hot year-round, the climate of the lowlands of the Danakil Depression is also extremely dry and hyperarid in terms of annual average rainy days as only a few days record measurable precipitation. The hot desert climate of Dallol is particularly hot due to the extremely low elevation, it being inside the tropics and near the hot Red Sea during winters, the very low seasonality impact, the constants of the extreme heat and the lack of nighttime cooling.

Geology
Local geology is characterized by volcanic and tectonic activity, various climate cycles, and discontinuous erosion. The basic geological structure of this area was caused by the movement of tectonic plates as Africa moved away from Asia. Mountain chains formed and were eroded again during the Paleozoic. Inundations by the sea caused the formation of layers of sandstone, and limestone was deposited further offshore. As the land rose again, further sandstone formed above the limestone. Further tectonic shifts caused lava to pour out of cracks and cover the sedimentary deposits.

The Danakil Desert has a number of lakes formed by lava flows that dammed up several valleys. Among these is Lake Afrera, which has thick saline crusts on its banks. Other areas of the Danakil became sinks, dry endorheic basins as precipitation evaporates faster than it can collect in permanent lakes. The area is flanked toward the east by the Danakil Alps, a tabular mountain system that has a few volcanic cones which peak in height in Mount Ramlo (2,130 m). The land surrounding the Danakil Depression was once part of the Red Sea. The salt deposits were created when water from the Red Sea flooded the area and then evaporated. The most recent flood was roughly 30,000 years ago. While the water is gone, salt remains in extraordinarily large quantities, and has proven to be a valuable — and fatal — commodity for locals.

A deposit of salt up to 800 m thick can also be found in the Salt Plain flatlands. Other local lakes include Lake Asale (116 m below sea level) and Lake Giuletti/Afrera 80 m below sea level, both of which possess cryptodepressions in the Danakil Depression. The Afrera contains many active volcanoes, including the Maraho, Dabbahu, Afdera and Erta Ale.

Human presence
In 1974, anthropologists discovered an Australopithecus afarensis body at Hadar, Ethiopia in the Awash Valley. The body was found to be female and named Lucy.

The Afar people mine salt, loading each of their camels with up to thirty salt bricks weighing four kilograms each. It will then take two days to get to the nearest town, with guards watching the camels and guarding them from bandits. There is a project to flood the depression by carrying out a channel from the ocean. In the past, salt was used as a form of currency in the region, but now the miners use regular cash to conduct transactions.