Lake Asal

Djibouti / Jibuti / Arta /
 lake, salt lake
Lake Asal (Ar: بحيرة عسل) is a rift lake in central Djibouti, located at the southern border of Tadjoura Region, touching Dikhil Region. It lies 153 m (502 ft below sea level in the Afar Depression and is the lowest point in Africa. It measures 10 by 7 km and has an area of 54 km². The mean depth is 7.4 meters, which makes for a water volume of 400 million m³. The catchment area measures 900 km². It is surrounded by a salt pan (extending west and mainly northwest). The salt is mined and transported by caravan to Ethiopia.

Lake Asal is the most saline body of water on earth with 34.8 percent salt concentration[1] (at a depth of 20 meters, as much as 39.8 percent has been measured). This is even more than that of the Dead Sea. The sources of the lake are subsurface springs, which are fed by the Gulf of Tadjoura (Golfe de Tadjoura), the eastern extension of the Gulf of Aden, specifically the nearly closed-off bay Ghoubet Kharab, about 10 km southeast of the lake.
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Asal_(Djibouti)
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   11°40'3"N   42°24'20"E

Comments

  • I visited there in December 1994, just after the Djibouti (city) was flooded. Lake Asal is an impressive place - but the black volcanic rocks in the vicinity add to the heat! It must have been well over 50°C!
  • Don Juan Pond in one of the dry valleys is saltier but drought has reduced the pond to a few puddles of mostly Calcium Chloride brine. It does not freeze even at 50 Centigrade below Zero. The exceedingly rare mineral Antarcticite, Calcium-chloride hexahydrate was discovered there.