This MedLibrary.org supplementary page on Lake Asal (Djibouti) is provided directly from the open source Wikipedia as a service to our readers. Please see the note below on authorship of this content, as well as the Wikipedia usage guidelines. To search for other content from our encyclopedia supplement, please use the form below:
Related Sponsors
| Lake Assal | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Location | Afar Depression |
| Coordinates | Coordinates: |
| Lake type | crater lake |
| Primary inflows | subsurface from the ocean |
| Primary outflows | none |
| Catchment area | 900 km² |
| Basin countries | Djibouti |
| Max. length | 10 km |
| Max. width | 7 km |
| Surface area | 54 km² |
| Average depth | 7.4 m |
| Max. depth | > 20 m |
| Water volume | 400 million m³ |
| Surface elevation | -153 m (-502 ft) (below sea level) |
| Settlements | Randa (25 km northeast) |
Lake Assal (French: Lac Assal) is a crater lake in central Djibouti, located at the southern border of Tadjoura Region, touching Dikhil Region, some 120 km west of Djibouti city. It lies 155 m (515 ft) below sea level in the Afar Depression and its shores comprise the lowest point on land in Africa. It measures 19 by 7 km and has an area of 54 km². The maximum depth is 40 m, whereas the mean depth is 7.4 m, which makes for a water volume of 400 million m³. The catchment area measures 900 km², and there is just a residual runoff of fresh water into the lake.
Lake Assal is considered the most saline body of water on earth outside Antarctica, with 34.8% percent salt concentration (up to 40% at 20 m depth), compared to Garabogazköl or the 33.7 percent level in the Dead Sea (often incorrectly considered the world's most saline lake), and an average of 3.5 percent in the world's oceans. Only some hypersaline lakes of the McMurdo Dry Valleys in Antarctica such as Don Juan Pond and perhaps Lake Vanda (with a reported salinity of "10 times the salinity of sea water") have a higher salinity. The sources of the lake are hot springs whose salinity is close to sea water, which are fed by the Gulf of Tadjoura (French: Golfe de Tadjoura), the eastern extension of the Gulf of Aden, specifically the nearly closed-off bay Ghoubet Kharab, about 10 km southeast of the lake.
The area is wild and desert-like, and no fauna or flora can be seen in the syrupy waters of the lake. The high temperature of the water (33-34 °C) favors evaporation, and it is surrounded by a salt pan (extending west and mainly northwest). The salt is mined and transported by caravan to Ethiopia.
 Lake Assal, with the salt pan on the left |
 Lake Assal |
 |
 Bay of Goudouk |
 |
Source
 |
This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. (June 2007) |
 |
This Djibouti location article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 16 November 2008, at 20:41.
Wikipedia Authorship and Review
Wikipedia content provided here is not reviewed directly by MedLibrary.org. Wikipedia content is authored by an open community of volunteers and is not produced by or in any way affiliated with MedLibrary.org.
Wikipedia Usage Guidelines
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article on "Lake Asal (Djibouti)".
The URL for this specific entry is:
All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details). Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.