SNAPSHOT

Danakil Depression, Ethiopa

THE DANAKIL DEPRESSION in northern Ethiopa is one of the most inhospitable habitats on Earth. A geological depression at the juncture of three tectonic plates, about 125 metres below sea level, it provides a surreal vista of volcanic rock, lava flows, salt-encrusted plains and sulfur lakes. The climate is unremittingly brutal; it rarely rains and is considered the hottest spot on the planet, the temperature averaging 34°C. Yet even here life manages to survive. In the sulfur springs and lakes, micro-organisms called extremophiles find a home – in the process turning their toxic habitats into colourful attractions. The area is also rich in evidence of past life, with more than 200 palaeontological and archaeological sites identified so far. These have provided a trove of information about the origins of our species, including human remains more than a million years old.