With 34.8 percent salinity, Lake Assal is considered the most saline body of water outside Antarctica. In which tiny nation in the Horn of Africa is it located?
"Geography of Djibouti Djibouti is a country in the Horn of Africa. It is bordered by Eritrea in the north, Ethiopia in the west and south, and Somalia in the southeast. To the east is its coastline on the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. Rainfall is sparse, and most of the territory has a semi-arid to arid environment. Lake Assal is a saline lake which lies 155 m (509 ft) below sea level, making it the lowest point on land in Africa and the third-lowest point on Earth after the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea. Djibouti's"
"of below sea level, making it the lowest point of Africa. The lake is characterized by two parts. The dry part of the lake, resulting from evaporation of the lake waters, is a white plain dry lake bed on the west/northwest side, which is a large expanse of salt. The second part is the highly saline water body. The watershed area of the lake is . Lake Assal, in an oval shape (length and width ), consists of two distinct parts; one is ""crystallised salt surface"" zone of and the other is the high saline brine area of . The"
"Gaet'ale Pond Gaet'ale Pond is a small hypersaline lake located near the Dallol crater in the Danakil Depression (Afar, Ethiopia). It is placed over a hot spring of tectonic origin and has no apparent inlet or outlet streams. The water of Gaet'ale Pond has a salinity of 43%, making it the saltiest water body on Earth, the second is Don Juan Pond in Antarctica with a salinity of 338 ‰ = 33.8%. Gaet'ale pond is the biggest of a series of small ponds located at about 4 km southeast of Dallol springs. It is crescent-shaped with a diameter of about"
"Africa. Out of all the water on Earth, saline water in oceans, seas and saline groundwater make up about 97% of it. Only 2.5–2.75% is fresh water, including 1.75–2% frozen in glaciers, ice and snow, 0.5–0.75% as fresh groundwater and soil moisture, and less than 0.01% of it as surface water in lakes, swamps and rivers. Freshwater lakes contain about 87% of this fresh surface water, including 29% in the African Great Lakes, 22% in Lake Baikal in Russia, 21% in the North American Great Lakes, and 14% in other lakes. Swamps have most of the balance with only a"
"Karum is the former mining settlement of Dallol. The lake is extremely salty and is surrounded by a salt pan, which is still mined. The salt is transported by caravan to the rest of the country. Lake Karum Lake Karum (also known as Lake Assale or Asale) is a salt lake in the Afar Region of Ethiopia. One of two salt lakes in the northern end of the Danakil Depression (the other one being Lake Afrera), it lies at relative to sea level. The volcano Erta Ale rises southwest of this lake. Werner Munzinger, who travelled through the Afar Depression"
"Lake Karum Lake Karum (also known as Lake Assale or Asale) is a salt lake in the Afar Region of Ethiopia. One of two salt lakes in the northern end of the Danakil Depression (the other one being Lake Afrera), it lies at relative to sea level. The volcano Erta Ale rises southwest of this lake. Werner Munzinger, who travelled through the Afar Depression in 1867, recorded that this lake was fed by four streams: the Didic, the Ala, the Rira Guddy, and the Ragali or Awra, which is the only permanent stream flowing into Lake Karum. North of Lake"
"lake water is 300 g/L NaCl which is assessed with varying potential reserves of 4 to 8 million tonnes. The hot spring, which is source of supply to the Lake Assal from the gulf, has the same salinity level as that of seawater. The salinity concentration in the lake is a result of wind and sun action, which results in an annual average evaporation rate of 460 million m. The lake water is stated to be maintaining an equilibrium. Lake Assal is the most saline body of water on earth after Don Juan Pond with 34.8% average salt concentration (up"
"of 39 g/L which is close to that of seawater. The lake water fluctuates by about with subsurface inflow estimated at 5,000–8,000 litres per second. The seawater-derived geothermal aquifer of the Asal-Fiale area is located in an exposed and actively extending continental rift that will become an arm of the Red Sea. In particular, Lake Assal is eligible as an experimental site to study the evolution of the deep hot brines of the Red Sea . Indeed, by observing the strontium composition of the Red Sea brines, it is easy to deduce how these salt waters found at the bottom"
"Don Juan Pond Don Juan Pond is a small and very shallow hypersaline lake in the western end of Wright Valley (South Fork), Victoria Land, Antarctica, west from Lake Vanda. It is wedged between the Asgard Range to the south and the Dais Range to the north. On the west end is a small tributary and a rock glacier. With a salinity level of over 47%, Don Juan Pond is the saltiest of the Antarctic lakes This salinity allows the pond to remain liquid even at temperatures as low as due to the interference of salts with the bonding of"
"crystallised salt zone extends to a depth of more than whose estimated resource is about 300 million tonnes. The lake measures and has an area of liquid brine . The maximum depth is , whereas the mean depth is , which makes for a water volume of Salt extraction by the Afar nomad tribes of camel drivers and Issas from Lake Assal's salt bank established the ancient caravan routes. These linked the lake with the mountains of Ethiopia for barter trading such items as sorghum, coal, and other commodities. Salt was also bartered with South Abyssinia for items like coffee,"
"produce salt from the lake by pumping the brine into artificial ponds for evaporation and subsequent precipitation. Following the 2011 eruption of Nabro, the lake is contaminated with sulfuric acid, making the salt inedible. Lake Afrera Lake Afrera (also transliterated as Lake Afdera) is a hypersaline lake in northern Ethiopia. Located in Administrative Zone 2 of the Afar Region, it is one of the lakes of the Danakil Depression. According to its entry in Lakenet, it has a surface area of , although another source states the area is . An unconfirmed report gives its depth as ; the lake"
"a salinity of 34.8% (i.e. 10 times saltier than ocean water). Probably the best-known hypersaline lakes are the Dead Sea (34.2% salinity in 2010) and the Great Salt Lake in the state of Utah, USA (5–27% variable salinity). The Dead Sea, dividing Israel and the Palestinian West Bank from Jordan, is the world's deepest hypersaline lake and the Araruama Lagoon in Brazil is the world's largest hypersaline lake. The Great Salt Lake, located in Utah, while having nearly three times the surface area of the Dead Sea, is shallower and experiences much greater fluctuations in level than the Dead Sea."
"a local village football team capsized in Lake Albert killing at least 30 people. Lake Albert (Africa) Lake Albert, also Mwitanzige and formerly Lake Mobutu Sese Seko, is a lake located in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is one of the African Great Lakes. Lake Albert is Africa's seventh-largest lake, and the world's twenty-seventh largest lake by volume. Lake Albert is located in the center of the continent, on the border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Lake Albert is the northernmost of the chain of lakes in the Albertine Rift, the western"
"Limassol Salt Lake Limassol Salt Lake (also known as Akrotiri Salt Lake) is the largest inland body of water on the island of Cyprus, in Akrotiri and Dhekelia, United Kingdom, an overseas territory. It lies due south-west of the sprawling city of Limassol and measures 10.65 km. Its lowest point is 2.7 meters below sea level and at its deepest point the water depth measures about one meter. Geologists hypothesize the lake was formed over the gradual joining of an offshore islet off the southern coast of Cyprus. The lake itself is considered to be one of the eastern Mediterranean"
"plateaus in its southern and central part and culminating in the coastal region. In spite of harsh climatic conditions, the terrain of basaltic origin and rhyolite is very rugged and has a succession of high plateaus and mountain ranges, and plateaus and hills of medium altitude. There is naturally very little arable land in desert areas. The highest peak is Mount Moussa and there are two major lakes: Lake Assal which is saline at (-) (the lowest point in Africa); and Lake Abbe, the major part of which is in Ethiopia and sourced by Awash River and its tributaries, also"
"– has a coastline of . From the most northerly point, Ras ben Sakka in Tunisia (37°21' N), to the most southerly point, Cape Agulhas in South Africa (34°51'15"" S), is a distance of approximately . Cape Verde, 17°33'22"" W, the westernmost point, is a distance of approximately to Ras Hafun, 51°27'52"" E, the most easterly projection that neighbours Cape Guardafui, the tip of the Horn of Africa. Africa's largest country is Algeria, and its smallest country is Seychelles, an archipelago off the east coast. The smallest nation on the continental mainland is The Gambia. The African Plate is a"
"are: Large endorheic regions in Africa are located in the Sahara Desert, the Kalahari Desert, and the East African Rift: Many small lakes and ponds in North Dakota and the Northern Great Plains are endorheic; some of them have salt encrustations along their shores. Though a large portion of Europe drains to the endorheic Caspian Sea, Europe's wet climate means it contains relatively few terminal lakes itself: any such basin is likely to continue to fill until it reaches an overflow level connecting it with an outlet or erodes the barrier blocking its exit. Exceptions include: All these lakes are"
"African Great Lakes The African Great Lakes () are a series of lakes constituting the part of the Rift Valley lakes in and around the East African Rift. They include Lake Victoria, the third-largest fresh water lake in the world by area, and Lake Tanganyika, the world's second-largest freshwater lake by volume and depth. Collectively, they contain 31,000 km (7400 cu mi) of water, which is more than either Lake Baikal or the North American Great Lakes. This total constitutes about 25% of the planet's unfrozen surface fresh water. The large rift lakes of Africa are the ancient home of"
"border of one of the poorest countries in the world -Malawi. There are also numerous water dams throughout the continent: Kariba on the river of Zambezi, Asuan in Egypt on the river of Nile and the biggest dam of the continent lying completely in The republic of Ghana is called Akosombo on the Volta river (Fobil 2003). The high lake plateau of the African Great Lakes region contains the headwaters of both the Nile and the Congo. The break-up of Gondwana in Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic times led to a major reorganization of the river courses of various large African"
"lakes are in very inhospitable regions such as the glacial lakes of Canada, Lake Baikal in Russia, Lake Khövsgöl in Mongolia, and the African Great Lakes. The North American Great Lakes, which contain 21% of the world's fresh water by volume, are the exception. They are located in a hospitable region, which is heavily populated. The Great Lakes Basin is home to 33 million people. The Canadian cities of Toronto, Hamilton, Ontario, St. Catharines, Niagara, Oshawa, Windsor, and Barrie, and the United States cities of Duluth, Milwaukee, Chicago, Gary, Detroit, Cleveland, Buffalo, and Rochester, are all located on shores of"
"south, east or west than any other location on the continent. The highest point in Africa is Mount Kilimanjaro, in Tanzania. The lowest point is Lake Asal, below sea level, in Djibouti. Richard Grant 2014. Africa. Geographies of Change. New York: Oxford University Press. Geography of Africa Africa is a continent comprising 63 political territories, representing the largest of the great southward projections from the main mass of Earth's surface. Within its regular outline, it comprises an area of , excluding adjacent islands. Its highest mountain is Mount Kilimanjaro, its largest lake is Lake Victoria Separated from Europe by the"
"to 40% at depth); higher than the 33.7% level in the Dead Sea. The dissolved salts include NaCl, KCl, MgCl, CaCl, CaSO and MgBr, with NaCl dominating in Lake Assal and MgCl in the Dead Sea. The surface concentration of salts is 268.8 g/L for the Dead Sea and 276.5 g/L for Lake Assal; the concentration increases to 326.6 g/L at depth in the Dead Sea and to 398 g/L at depth in Lake Assal. By 1893, the French government had sold to Mr. Chefneux the right to refine and export salt from Lake Assal. Chefneux agreed to pay into"
"Lake Natron Lake Natron is a salt and soda lake in Arusha Region in northern Tanzania. It is in the Gregory Rift, which is the eastern branch of the East African Rift. The lake is within the Lake Natron Basin, a Ramsar Site wetland of international significance. The lake is fed principally by the Southern Ewaso Ng'iro River, which rises in central Kenya, and by mineral-rich hot springs. It is quite shallow, less than deep, and varies in width depending on its water level. The lake is a maximum of long and wide. The surrounding area receives irregular seasonal rainfall,"
"in smaller but similar depressions. The Qattara Depression contains the second lowest point in Africa at an altitude of below sea level, the lowest point being Lake Assal in Djibouti. The depression covers about , a size comparable with Lake Ontario or twice as large as Lebanon. Due to its size and proximity to the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, studies have been made for the potential to generate hydroelectricity here. The Qattara Depression has the shape of a teardrop, with its point facing east and the broad deep area facing southwest. The northern side of the depression is characterised"
"Lake Turkana Lake Turkana (), formerly known as Lake Rudolf, is a lake in the Kenyan Rift Valley, in northern Kenya, with its far northern end crossing into Ethiopia. It is the world's largest permanent desert lake and the world's largest alkaline lake. By volume it is the world's fourth-largest salt lake after the Caspian Sea, Issyk-Kul, and Lake Van (passing the shrinking South Aral Sea), and among all lakes it ranks 24th. Lake Turkana is now threatened by the construction of Gilgel Gibe III Dam in Ethiopia due to the damming of the Omo river which supplies most of"
"Lake Albert (Africa) Lake Albert, also Mwitanzige and formerly Lake Mobutu Sese Seko, is a lake located in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is one of the African Great Lakes. Lake Albert is Africa's seventh-largest lake, and the world's twenty-seventh largest lake by volume. Lake Albert is located in the center of the continent, on the border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Lake Albert is the northernmost of the chain of lakes in the Albertine Rift, the western branch of the East African Rift. It is about 160 km (100 mi) long"
"Another name for this body of water is Lake Egogi (or Egogi Bad), which is the name L.M. Nesbitt's Afar guide gave it when the Italian explorer became the first European to see it in 1928. The single island in Lake Afrera, Franchetti Island (also known as ""Deset""), located in the southern part of the lake, is considered the lowest-lying island in the world. Unlike other saline lakes in Ethiopia (e.g., Lakes Abijatta, Shala, and Chitu), the pH of Lake Afrera is low and in the acidic range. Although little studied, a few species of fish are hosted by Lake"
"L'Atalante basin L'Atalante basin is a hypersaline brine lake at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea about west of the island of Crete. It is named for the French ""L'Atalante"", one of the oceanographic research vessels involved in its discovery in 1993. L'Atalante and its neighbors the Urania and Discovery deep hyper saline anoxic basins (DHABs) are at most 35,000 years old. They were formed by Messinian evaporite salt deposits dissolving out of the Mediterranean Ridge and collecting in abyssal depressions about deep. L'Atalante is the smallest of the three; its surface begins at about below sea level. The L'Atalante"
"constructing two gigantic antennas as part of its radio listening post network in the Middle East. Local and European environmentalists are concerned that the proximity of the listening posts to this ecosystem could have a significant impact on the wildlife. Limassol Salt Lake Limassol Salt Lake (also known as Akrotiri Salt Lake) is the largest inland body of water on the island of Cyprus, in Akrotiri and Dhekelia, United Kingdom, an overseas territory. It lies due south-west of the sprawling city of Limassol and measures 10.65 km. Its lowest point is 2.7 meters below sea level and at its deepest"
"Salar de Arizaro Salar de Arizaro (""Arizaro"" comes from Atacameno ""crow"", ""condor"" and , , ""accommodation"", ""place where something is common"".) is a large salt flat of the Andes in north-western Argentina, bordering with Chile. It is located between the villages of Tolar Grande and Caipe and near Mina La Casualidad, in Los Andes Department, Salta Province. Located in the central-western area of the Puna de Atacama, it covers an area of 1,600 km². Per extension, the Salar de Arizaro is the 6th largest salt flat in the World and the 2nd largest in Argentina after the Salinas Grandes. The"
"in eastern Washington and Oregon to the east of the Cascade Range in the United States, in the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia in Canada, Patagonia in southern Argentina, and the Atacama Desert in northern Chile. The only noteworthy area of Maritime Climate at or near sea-level within Africa is in South Africa from Mossel Bay on the Western Cape coast to Plettenberg Bay, with additional pockets of this climate inland of the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal coast. It is usually warm most of the year with no pronounced rainy season, but slightly more rain in autumn and spring. The"
"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 (). A deposit of salt up to thick can also be found in the Salt Plain flatlands. Other local lakes include Lake Asale ( below sea level) and Lake Giuletti/Afrera ( 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. The Afar people mine salt, loading each of their camels with up to thirty salt bricks weighing"
"Lake Retba Lac Rose (meaning Pink Lake) lies north of the Cap Vert peninsula of Senegal, some 30 km (18 miles) north-east of the capital, Dakar in northwest Africa. It is named for its pink waters caused by ""Dunaliella salina"" algae and is known for its high salt content, up to 40% in some areas. The lake is separated from the Atlantic Ocean only by a narrow corridor of dunes, and is named for its pink waters, caused by ""Dunaliella salina"" algae. The algae produces a red pigment to assist in absorbing light, which provides energy to create ATP. The"