Lake Assal (Djibouti)
| Assalsee | ||
|---|---|---|
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| lakeside | ||
| Geographical location | Tadjoura region , Djibouti | |
| Tributaries | underground Gulf of Aden , Gulf of Tadjoura |
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| Drain | evaporation | |
| Location close to the shore | Randa (25 km northeast) | |
| Data | ||
| Coordinates | 11 ° 39 ′ 0 ″ N , 42 ° 25 ′ 0 ″ E | |
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| Altitude above sea level | approx. −157 m | |
| surface | 54 km² | |
| length | 10 km | |
| width | 7 km | |
| volume | 400 million m³ | |
| Maximum depth | > 20 m | |
| Middle deep | 7.4 m | |
| Catchment area | 900 km² | |
|
particularities |
Lake lies in the deepest depression in Africa |
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The Assalsee ( French Lac Assal ) is an endorheic salt lake in the East African state of Djibouti . It is located west of the Gulf of Aden in the Afar Depression in central Djibouti.
description
The Assalsee covers 54 km². Its water surface is about 157 m below sea level , so that its shore areas form the deepest point - i.e. the deepest depression - in Africa .
It is mainly fed from underground springs , which in turn draw their water from the nearby Gulf of Aden and thus the Indian Ocean .
Salinity
After the Gaet'ale in northern Ethiopia, the lake is the most salty body of water on earth outside of Antarctica (only in the Antarctic dry valleys are some lakes with an even higher salt content; see Don Juan Lake ).
At 35%, its salinity is ten times higher than that of the oceans or about 2 to 7 percentage points above that of the Dead Sea . The high salt content is the result of high evaporation .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Cavalazzi, B., et al. "The Dallol Geothermal Area, Northern Afar, Ethiopia — An Exceptional Planetary Field Analog on Earth." Astrobiology 19.4 (2019): 553-578. doi : 10.1089 / ast.2018.1926 . PMC 6459281 (free full text).