Important Facts For Prelims
Danakil Depression
- 05 Nov 2019
- 1 min read
Why in News
A recent study stated that an active and naturally occurring life cannot be sustained at Danakil, Ethiopia.
- The two barriers to the survival of life in the Danakil region are:
- Magnesium-dominated brines that cause cells to break down
- An environment having simultaneously very low pH and high salt, a combination that makes adaptation highly difficult.
Danakil Depression
- It is located in northeastern Ethiopia.
- At the northern end of the Great Rift Valley, and separated by live volcanoes from the Red Sea.
- Danakil is one of the world’s lowest places at 100 metres below sea level.
- The plain was formed by the evaporation of an inland water body.
- All the water entering Danakil evaporates, and no stream flows out from its extreme environment.
- It is covered with more than 10 lakh tonnes of salt.
