The Lava Lake of Erta Ale (one magnificent panorama)

These days only a handful of real lava lakes are known and remember there are really not plenty and very rare! Then is could be a challenge of whether and how to get to the shore in the room. In the Ethiopian Danakil Depression is one of the most interesting, most beautiful and most mythical of its kind – the lava lake of Erta Ale. Erta Ale is a continuously active basaltic shield volcano in the Afar Region of northeastern Ethiopia, the most active volcano there. To be more specific it comprises a badland desert area spanning the border with Eritrea, and the volcano itself is surrounded completely by an area below sea level, making it a relatively low-elevation volcano.

Once past the 613m high Erta Ale, opens a one magnificent panorama. At the feet then spreads to almost 1.2 km long and ~ 500m wide caldera of the volcano, and sign in the distance you can make a big hole, the orange glow of fire reflected in the steam against a deep blue night sky.

Worldwide there are currently only four lava lakes , maybe five, if developed renewed activity of the volcano on Ambrym back to what it once was times. A Prussian would comment on the most common of lava lakes with well-”They will be held on the middle of nowhere …” and in fact is the unreal Danakil Depression, the upper part of the North African Afar Triangle , saying that more than satisfies. There is shaking the Nubian, Somali and Arabian tectonic plate hands. Well, actually they do not meet there, but rather go their own ways. Their drift tearing Africa formally and precisely on top of that tectonic interface are the Afar Triangle and the Danakil. One such region is particularly active volcano, is somehow obvious, which is located here, but a quarter of all active volcanoes in Africa, is already a little superlative.

Among the lava lakes of Erta Ale of this world is definitely something very special. While his counterparts, such as that of the Nyiragongo volcano, literally cook and strong outgassing, pushes the Erta Ale rather a pretty cushy. For observers, the clear view and the means of them lying about 40m and over 60m in diameter, constantly in motion molten rock. On the day the lake has a relatively dull and hard light and sun to appear this inhospitable place. At night, however, and more especially at dusk, unites the universe and the glow of the earth a spectacle unprecedented scale. Then stroll across the lake cooled Lavaplatten push together, drifting apart again, fall off and new lava rises up to while they boil at the edges of the lake and hissing rid of their gas content carried along.

The Erta Ale not the children’s playground and not to be underestimated, not least, he proved with his outburst in 2005. Also in early 2010 was caution, because the lava flooded the first terrace of Pitkraters and was only about 20 meters below the crater rim. Friends of electronic music, I recommend at the sight of the fires of earth a few sounds of Jon Hopkins or Moshic (especially the album Salamat) add.