Dallol is the hottest inhabited area on Earth, and is also one of the most remote places on Earth.
Located in a depression, at more than 100 meters bellow sea level, this volcano has one of the most unearthly sceneries on the planet. Discover its acidic hot springs, small gas geysers and pools of acid in pictures.
Pretty eerie landscape, no? And this is on Earth!
The Dallol volcano is a fascinating volcanic explosion crater (or maar) situated in the Danakil Depression, northeast of the Erta Ale Range in Ethiopia.
‘Dallol’ means dissolution or disintegration. This magical place consists of green and yellow acid salt ponds and miniature salt geysers such as the one below:
Multiple hot springs above the hot magma have washed out the salt layers leaving voids creating these amazing sculptures.
The 1.5 by 3 km large crater of Dallol Volcano has formed by the collapse of salt layers.
The last eruption took place here in 1926. These craters are the lowest known subaerial volcanic vents in the world, at over 45 m (150 ft) below sea level.
The annual average temperature is 34.4°C.
When the pressure of vapour reaches critical level, the ground (here – salt) above this superheated vapour is blown off in spectacular explosion, leaving a crater – maar.