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Afar Depression
The Afar Triangle (also called the Afar Depression) is a geological depression caused by the Afar triple junction, which is part of the Great Rift Valley in East Africa. The region has disclosed fossil specimens of the very earliest hominins; that is, the earliest of the human clade, and it is thought by some paleontologists to be the cradle of the evolution of humans. The Depression overlaps the borders of Eritrea, Djibouti and the entire Afar Region of Ethiopia; and it contains the lowest point in Africa, Lake Assal, Djibouti, at below sea level. The Awash River is the main waterflow into the region, but it runs dry during the annual dry season, and ends as a chain of saline lakes. The northern part of the Afar Depression is also known as the Danakil Depression. The lowlands are affected by heat, drought, and minimal air circulation, and contain the hottest places (year-round average temperatures) of anywhere on Earth. The Afar Triangle is bordered as follows (see the to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ethiopian Highlands
The Ethiopian Highlands (also called the Abyssinian Highlands) is a rugged mass of mountains in Ethiopia in Northeast Africa. It forms the largest continuous area of its elevation in the continent, with little of its surface falling below , while the summits reach heights of up to . It is sometimes called the "Roof of Africa" due to its height and large area. It is the only country in the region with such a high elevated surface. This elevated surface is bisected diagonally by the Great East African Rift System which extends from Syria to Mozambique across the East African Lakes. Most of the Ethiopian Highlands are part of central and northern Ethiopia, and its northernmost portion reaches into Eritrean Highlands, Eritrea. History In the southern parts of the Ethiopian Highlands once was located the Kingdom of Kaffa, a medieval and Early modern period, early modern state, whence the coffee plant was exported to the Arabian Peninsula. The land of the former kingdom is mountainou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Salt Mining
Salt mining extracts natural salt deposits from underground. The mined salt is usually in the form of halite (commonly known as rock salt), and extracted from evaporite Formation (geology), formations. History Before the advent of the modern internal combustion engine and earth-moving equipment, mining salt was one of the most expensive and dangerous of operations because of rapid dehydration caused by constant contact with the salt (both in the mine passages and scattered in the air as salt dust) and of other problems caused by accidental excessive sodium intake. Salt is now plentiful, but until the Industrial Revolution, it was difficult to come by, and salt was often mined by slaves or prisoners. Life expectancy for the miners was low. The earliest found salt mine was in Hallstatt, Austria where salt was mined, starting in 5000BC. As salt is a necessity of life, pre-industrial governments were usually keen to exercise stringent control over its production, often through ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Salt
In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as rock salt or halite. Salt is essential for life in general (being the source of the essential dietary minerals sodium and chlorine), and saltiness is one of the basic human tastes. Salt is one of the oldest and most ubiquitous food seasonings, and is known to uniformly improve the taste perception of food. Salting, brining, and pickling are ancient and important methods of food preservation. Some of the earliest evidence of salt processing dates to around 6000 BC, when people living in the area of present-day Romania boiled spring water to extract salts; a salt works in China dates to approximately the same period. Salt was prized by the ancient Hebrews, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Hittites, Egyptians, and Indians. Salt became a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Red Sea
The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez—leading to the Suez Canal. It is underlain by the Red Sea Rift, which is part of the Great Rift Valley. The Red Sea has a surface area of roughly , is about long, and wide at its widest point. It has an average depth of , and in the central Suakin Trough, it reaches its maximum depth of . Approximately 40% of the Red Sea is quite shallow at less than deep and about 25% is less than deep. The extensive shallow shelves are noted for their marine life and corals. More than 1,000 invertebrate species and 200 types of soft and hard coral live in the sea. The Red Sea is the world's northernmost tropical sea and has been designated a Global 200 ecoregion. Extent The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Danakil Desert
The Danakil Desert (or Afar Desert) is a desert in northeast Ethiopia, southern Eritrea, and northwestern Djibouti. Situated in the Afar Triangle, it stretches across of Desert climate, arid terrain. It is inhabited by a few Afar people, Afar, who engage in Salt mine, salt mining. The area is known for its volcanoes and heat wave, extreme heat, with daytime temperatures surpassing . Less than of rainfall occurs each year. The Danakil Desert is one of the lowest and hottest places on Earth. Climate Dallol, Ethiopia, Dallol (92 metres below sea level), has the highest average temperature recorded on earth. Dallol features an extreme version of a hot desert climate (Köppen climate classification ''BWh'') typical of the Danakil Desert. Dallol is the hottest place year-round on the planet and currently holds the record high average temperature for an inhabited location on Earth, where an average annual temperature of 34.6 °C (94.3 °F) was recorded between the years 1960 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Afar People
The Afar (), also known as the Danakil, Adali and Odali, are a Cushitic peoples, Cushitic ethnic group inhabiting the Horn of Africa. They primarily live in the Afar Region of Ethiopia and in northern Djibouti, as well as the entire southern coast of Eritrea. The Afar speak the Afar language, which is part of the East Cushitic languages, East Cushitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic family. Afars are the only inhabitants of the Horn of Africa whose traditional territories border both the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. Etymology The etymology of the term "Dankali" can be traced back to the Afar language and is derived from the words "dan" (meaning "people" or "nation") and "kali" (referring to the Afar Region). The term has been used for centuries to refer to the Afar people, their language, culture, and way of life. History Early history The earliest surviving written mention of the Afar is from the 13th-century Al-Andalus, Andalusian writer Ibn Said al-Maghri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dallol, Ethiopia
Dallol () is a locality in the Dallol woreda of northern Ethiopia. Located in Kilbet Rasu, Afar Region in the Afar Depression, it has a latitude and longitude of with an elevation of about below sea level. The Central Statistical Agency has not published an estimate for the 2005 population of the village, which has been described as a ghost town. Dallol currently holds the official record for record high average temperature for an inhabited location on Earth, and an average annual temperature of 35 °C (95 °F) was recorded between 1960 and 1966. Dallol is also one of the most remote places on Earth, but paved roads in the area were built in 2015. Still, the most important mode of transport besides off-road vehicles are the camel caravans that travel to the area to collect salt. In the region is the highly active hydrothermal system of Dallol, with numerous springs, terrace systems and fumaroles. History A railway from the port of Mersa Fatma in Eritrea to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dikika
The Dikika is an area of the Afar Region of Ethiopia. A hominin fossil named Selam, a specimen of the ''Australopithecus afarensis'' species, was found in this area. Papers also propose the earliest evidence of stone tool use at this site in the form of cut marks on animal bone. However there has been argument about this proposal. Dikika is located in Mille woreda.Based on the map of the findsite printed in Alemseged, Z. et al. A new hominin from the Basal Member of the Hadar Formation, Dikika, and its geological context. ''J. Hum. Evol.'' 49 (2005), 499–514. Dikika is also given to name a basal member of the Hadar formation, a series of sedimentary rocks deposited approximately 3.4 million years ago, which have been exposed by the erosive action of the Awash River } The Awash River (sometimes spelled Awaash; Oromo language, Oromo: ''Awaash OR Hawaas'', Amharic: ዐዋሽ, Afar language, Afar: ''Hawaash We'ayot'', Somali language, Somali: ''Webiga Dir'', Italian language, It ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hadar, Ethiopia
Hadar or Hadar Formation (also spelled ''Qad daqar'', ''Qadaqar''; Afar language, Afar "white [''qidi''] stream [''daqar'']")Jon Kalb ''Adventures in the Bone Trade'' (New York: Copernicus Books, 2001), p. 83 is a paleontological fossil site located in Mille (woreda), Mille district, Administrative Zone 1 (Afar), Administrative Zone 1 of the Afar Region, Ethiopia, 15 km upstream (west) of the Transport in Ethiopia#Roads, A1 road's bridge across the Awash River (Adayitu kebele). It is situated on the southern edge of the Afar Triangle (part of East Africa's Great Rift Valley, Ethiopia, Great Rift Valley), along the left banks of the Awash River, between two minor tributaries, the eponymous Kada Hadar and the Gona, Ethiopia, Kada Gona. In 1972, Taieb organized a small exploratory reconnaissance of the Afar region to investigate more paleontological finds there. After six weeks of exploration, the party focused on the Hadar site. The site has yielded some of the most well-kno ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
