The East African Rift (EAR) or East African Rift System (EARS) is an active continental rift zone in East Africa. The EAR began developing around the onset of the Miocene, 22–25 million years ago. It was formerly considered to be part of a larger Great Rift Valley that extended north to Asia Minor.
The Afar Triangle 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 155 m (509 ft) below sea level.
Lake Karum is a salt lake in the Afar Region of Ethiopia. One of two salt lakes in the northern end of the Danakil Depression, it lies 120 m (394 ft) below sea level. The volcano Erta Ale rises southeast of this lake.
The Afar Revolutionary Democratic Unity Front is an Afar political party in Ethiopia, founded in 1993. It had been a member of the United Ethiopian Democratic Forces (UEDF) coalition opposition party.
Hayli Gubbi is a shield volcano located in the Afar Region of Ethiopia. It is the southernmost volcano of the Erta Ale Range.
Erta Ale Range is the most important axial volcanic chain of the Afar Depression, Afar Region, Ethiopia. It consists mostly of shield volcanoes.
Ale Bagu is a stratovolcano located in the Afar Region, Ethiopia. It is the highest volcano of Erta Ale Range. The village of El Dom sits at the base of Ale Bagu.
Tat Ali is a low Holocene shield volcano located in the northern part of the Afar Region of Ethiopia. This elevation is characterized as having an elongated summit depression that has produced a variety of rock types, ranging from basalts to pantellerites. NNW-SSE-trending fissures cutting the volcano have fed basaltic lava flows; those NE of Lake Afrera are of prehistoric date. Late-stage volcanism produced youthful basaltic lava flows on the floor of the summit depression, which is also the site of prominent fumarolic activity.
Gada Ale is a stratovolcano located in the Afar Region, Ethiopia. It is the most prominent volcano at the northern end of the Erta Ale Range.
Lake Afrera 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 100 km2 (39 sq mi), although another source states the area is 125 km2 (48 sq mi). An unconfirmed report gives its depth as 160 m (525 ft); the lake is fed by underground streams.
Alu is a system of volcanic fissures, located in Ethiopia. The fissures have produced silicic lava flows, and other fissures south of the volcano have been the source of huge youthful basaltic lava flows, which enlarge to the north as far as Lake Bakili. There is major fumarolic activity, located on parallel faults, some with 100-m uplifts.
Afdera is an isolated stratovolcano in northeastern Ethiopia, located at the intersection of three fault systems between the Erta Ale, Tat Ali, and Alayta mountain ranges.
Erta Ale is a continuously active basaltic shield volcano in the Afar Region of northeastern Ethiopia, which is itself part of the wider Afar Triangle. The volcano is located in the Danakil Depression, an area on the border between Ethiopia and Eritrea that is below sea level. It is the most active of the volcanoes in Ethiopia.
Dabbahu Volcano is an active volcano located in the remote Afar Region of Ethiopia. This stratovolcano is part of the Afar Triangle, a highly active volcanic region which includes Erta Ale. An eruption on September 26, 2005 created a large fissure in the ground, known as the Dabbahu fissure.
Mount Alayta is an active shield volcano in the Afar Region of Ethiopia. It is part of the Afar Triangle, a highly active volcanic region which includes the adjacent Mount Afdera. Mount Alayta covers an area of 2,700 square kilometers southwest of Lake Afrera. A chain of younger craters are aligned along a north-northwest axis in the basaltic-to-trachytic shield along the east side of the shield volcano, which extends to the western flank of Mount Afdera. The Alayta Lavafeld was formed from a series of north-south fissures. In two areas on the southern side of the volcanic complex, fumaroles can be observed.
Dalaffilla, also called Gabuli, or Alu-Dalafilla is a 578 m (1,896 ft) high stratovolcano in Ethiopia. It is the highest point of Gulina. The only recorded eruption of Dalaffilla occurred in 2008 when lava flows from its western and northwestern flanks traveled to the northeast.
The 2012 Afar region tourist attack was a shooting incident on the night of 17 January 2012 at Erta Ale volcano in the Afar Region of Ethiopia which killed 5 and injured 3. Four people were kidnapped in the attack.
Derek Keir has been an associate professor of geophysics at the University of Southampton since 2015. In 2013 he received the Bullerwell Lecture award from the British Geophysical Association (BGA) for significant contributions to geophysics.
Dallol is a unique, terrestrial hydrothermal system around a cinder cone volcano in the Danakil Depression, northeast of the Erta Ale Range in Ethiopia. It is known for its unearthly colors and mineral patterns, and the very acidic fluids that discharge from its hydrothermal springs.
