Lake Karum (also known as Lake Assale or Asale) is a salt

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

in the

Afar Region The Afar Region (; aa, Qafar Rakaakayak; am, አፋር ክልል), formerly known as Region 2, is a regional state in northeastern Ethiopia and the homeland of the Afar people. Its capital is the planned city of Semera, which lies on the pave ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

. One of two

salt lakes A salt lake or saline lake is a landlocked body of water that has a concentration of salt (chemistry), salts (typically sodium chloride) and other dissolved minerals significantly higher than most lakes (often defined as at least three grams of ...

in the northern end of the

Danakil Depression The Danakil Depression is the northern part of the Afar Triangle or Afar Depression in Ethiopia, a geological depression that has resulted from the divergence of three tectonic plates in the Horn of Africa. Geology The Danakil Depression lies ...

(the other one being

Lake Afrera Lake Afrera (in Italian Lake Giuletti) is a hypersaline lake in northern Ethiopia. Located in Kilbet Rasu, Afar Region, it is one of the lakes of the Danakil Depression. According to its entry in Lakenet, it has a surface area of , although anothe ...

), it lies at -120m (-394ft) relative to

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...

. The volcano

Erta Ale Erta Ale (or Ertale or Irta'ale; Amharic: ኤርታሌ) is a continuously active basaltic shield volcano in the Afar Region of northeastern Ethiopia. It is situated in the Afar Depression, a barren desert area. Erta Ale is the most active volcano ...

rises southeast of this lake.

Werner Munzinger Werner Munzinger (4 April 1832 in Olten, Switzerland – 14 November 1875 in Awsa, Ethiopia) was a Swiss administrator and explorer of the Horn of Africa. Life and career He was born in Olten, and studied science and history at the Univer ...

, who traveled through the

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; th ...

in 1867, recorded that this lake was fed by four streams: The Didic, the Ala, the Rira Guddy, and the Ragali or Awra, which is the only permanent stream flowing into Lake Karum.Munzinger
"Narrative of a Journey through the Afar Country", ''Journal of the Royal Geographical Society''
39 (1869), p. 204 North of Lake Karum is the former mining-settlement of Dallol. The lake is extremely

salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantitie ...

y and is surrounded by a salt-pan, which is still mined. The salt is transported by caravan to the rest of the country. ET Afar asv2018-01 img01 Lake Karum area.jpg, Salt flat at Lake Karum ET Afar asv2018-01 img60 Lake Karum area.jpg, Water of Lake Karum, visible through a hole in the salt flat ET Afar asv2018-01 img62 Lake Karum area.jpg, Salt workers at work ET Afar asv2018-01 img65 Lake Karum area.jpg, Processed salt Salt transport by a camel train on Lake Assale (Karum) in Ethiopia.jpg, Salt transport by a

camel train A camel train or caravan is a series of camels carrying passengers and goods on a regular or semi-regular service between points. Despite rarely travelling faster than human walking speed, for centuries camels' ability to withstand harsh condi ...

References

Afar Region Lakes of Ethiopia Saline lakes of the Great Rift Valley {{Afar-geo-stub

See also

References