Danakil Depression — Dallol Sulphur Springs Ethiopia
109.12 د.ك
The Dallol hydrothermal field in Ethiopia’s Danakil Depression — neon yellow sulphur pinnacles rising from a salt flat surrounded by acid pools of green, orange, and blood-red at the world’s most colourful and hostile landscape.
Description
Dallol is the most visually extreme landscape on Earth — a hydrothermal salt dome in the Danakil Depression at 116 metres below sea level, ambient temperature averaging 34°C year-round, where superheated brine and acid gases reach the surface through sulphurous vents to form pinnacles, pools, and crystalline formations in colours that appear digitally enhanced but are entirely natural chemical deposits. The yellow sulphur pinnacles are the dominant structure, rising 30–60 centimetres from a chloride salt flat surrounded by pools of pH 0 acid in greens and yellows caused by iron sulphate compounds, and blood-red pools caused by halobacteria living in the brine. This image was made at 7am before the temperature exceeded 40°C, using a 24-70mm zoom at f/11 from a position on the salt flat edge with armed scout escort — the mandatory access protocol for the Afar region.
