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Lake Abhe (Abbe)

Several salt lakes are strung out along the highlands of the Great Rift Valley in Djibouti. The largest is Lake Abbe, a 350 kmē depression; it lies in the far south-west of Djibouti on the border with Ethiopia. Natural chimneys (fumaroles) with a crumbly texture, some as tall as 30m, dot its shore. The vent systems of the fumaroles reach far into the earth where the rock masses are very hot. There is very little water within these channels. Water that does enter is instantly converted to steam and is expelled from the vent with carbon dioxide and a little hydrogen sulfide, accounting for the sulphuric odor.

The lake was fed by the Awash River, but irrigation and drought have shrunk the lake dramatically.

Flamingos gather at dawn on the banks of the Lake Abhe. Local nomads graze their camels and goats near the lake.


References: http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/volc/geysers.html; Encyclopedia Brittanica, Macropaedia, 2007.