Dallol

Dallol
height	91 m below sea level
location	Danakil Depression , Ethiopia
Coordinates	14 ° 14 '25 "  N , 40 ° 17' 52"  E Coordinates: 14 ° 14 '25 "  N , 40 ° 17' 52"  E
Type	volcano
Last eruption	1926

View from the Dallol to the salt flat

Dallol is considered to be one of the most extraordinary geothermal areas on earth. The area is located in the Danakil Depression in northeast Ethiopia near the border with Eritrea . The highest average annual temperatures on earth were recorded in this difficult-to-reach area. The last phreatic explosion of the Dallol took place in 1926 and formed a 30 m wide crater, since then the activity has been limited to a large number of hot salt water springs. The approximately 4 km² large volcanic area rises about 30 m from a salt flat that is 120 m below sea level. Hot groundwater dissolves minerals as it rises through the 1000 m thick salt and anhydrite layers, which are then deposited again on the surface. A wide variety of shapes are formed, which are reminiscent of coral sticks or hornitos . The precipitated products get their characteristic white, yellow and red colors from sulfur and various potassium salts . The outlet temperature of the springs is approx. 70 ° C, a pH value of less than 1 is evidence of extreme acidity. The volcanic gases dissolve in the water, but the water evaporates due to the dry air and its high temperature, and the air itself is acidic due to the gases.

In October 2019, a Franco-Spanish team of scientists published an article in Nature Ecology and Evolution that concluded that there is no life in Dallol's extreme pools. The studies showed that even the most resilient microbes have no chance of survival there. The cells could not protect themselves against the extreme pH value, the high salt content of more than 35% NaCl and the heat of over 108 ° C at the same time. Another factor is the high content of magnesium salts. This breaks hydrogen bonds and this leads to denaturation of the biomolecules. Previously detected DNA traces all came from various contaminations (laboratory equipment, tourists, wind).

The so-called salt canyons , up to 40 m high pillars formed by erosion processes , extend on the southwest flank of the Dallol . The magma is about 3000 to 4000 meters below the surface.

The word Dallol means “dissolution” in the Afar language , but can also be translated as “place of no return” or “entrance to hell”.

Climate table

Dallol (1960–1966)
Climate diagram
J F. M. A. M. J J A. S. O N D.     0   36 26th     0   36 26th     0   39 29     0   41 32     0   44 33     0   47 36     0   46 36     0   45 35     0   43 32     0   42 31     0   39 28     0   37 27 Temperature in ° C ,  precipitation in mm Source: Dallol, Ethiopia

Average monthly temperatures and precipitation for Dallol (1960–1966) Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Max. Temperature ( ° C ) 36.1 36.1 38.9 40.6 44.4 46.7 45.6 45.0 42.8 41.7 39.4 36.7 O 41.2 Min. Temperature (° C) 25.6 25.9 29.3 32.0 32.8 35.5 35.8 35.1 32.3 31.0 28.3 27.1 O 30.9 Temperature (° C) 30.3 30.5 33.5 33.9 36.4 38.6 38.7 37.6 37.3 35.6 33.2 30.8 O 34.7 Precipitation ( mm ) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Σ 0 Source: Dallol, Ethiopia

At 34.7 ° C, Dallol has a higher average temperature than any other place on earth. It rarely gets colder than 24 ° C. Rain never falls. This makes Dallol one of the driest places on earth.

gallery

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  Salt canyons

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  Formation of sulfur and salt

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  Volcanic landscape

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  Sulphurous pool

Web links

Commons : Dallol  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Dallol in the Global Volcanism Program of the Smithsonian Institution (English)
• Dallol on photovolcanica.com (English)
• xflow.eu: April 2010, travel report and photos

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} On the volcanoes of the world , The Dallol a sour volcano. At arte, April 14, 2012
2. ↑ Jodie Belilla, David Moreira, Ludwig Jardillier, Guillaume Reboul, Karim Benzerara, José M. López-García, Paola Bertolino, Ana I. López-Archilla, Purificación López-García: Hyperdiverse archaea near life limits at the polyextreme geothermal Dallol area . In: Nature Ecology & Evolution . 3, No. 11, 2019, ISSN  2397-334X , pp. 1552-1561. doi : 10.1038 / s41559-019-1005-0 . PMID 31666740 . PMC 6837875 (free full text).
3. ^ Dallol Geothermal Field - A Place on Earth Where There is No Life .
4. ↑ Nadja Podbregar: Researchers find a place without life . In: scinexx | The knowledge magazine . November 25, 2019 ( scinexx.de [accessed July 26, 2020]).
5. ↑ ^{a b} Jana Zeh: Archaea, bacteria, microbes Is there really life everywhere on earth? , on: n-tv.de from July 25, 2020
   Shimmering lakes made of acid: Dallol - a place completely devoid of life , on n-tv, photo series from July 25, 2020