Danakil Depression | 05 Nov 2019

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.

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.