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Gaet'ale Pond |
Gaet'ale is a small water pool in Ethiopia where the water is unusually salty. Even this natural pool is the saltiest natural pool in the world.
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Gaet'ale Pond |
The salinity level of Gaet'ale pool water is more than 43%, much saltier than sea water. In fact, the water in this natural pool is still saltier than Lake Retba in Senegal, which is said to be the saltiest lake in the world. Despite having a higher salt content, however, Gaet'ale pond is too small to be called a lake. Therefore Lake Retba is more appropriate to be called a salty lake, and Gaet'ale pond gets the title as the saltiest natural pool in the world.
This natural pool is about 60 meters long and 40 meters wide. This small natural pool is located near the Dallol crater, in the Afar region of Ethiopia.
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Danakil Depression |
Gaet'ale Pond is located in an area known as the Danakil Depression, which is a geological basin area formed by the deviation of three tectonic plates in the Horn of Africa region.
The Danakil Basin is one of the hottest and most tectonically active places on earth. An arid environment with hot temperatures all year round, and almost no rain all year round. The Danakil Depression area contains several active volcanoes, drying lakes, hot springs and a series of small thermal pools. One of them is the Gaet'ale Pond, the saltiest natural pool in the world!
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Gaet'ale Pond |
The Gaet'ale natural pool was formed as a result of the earthquake that hit Ethiopia in January 2005. The Gaet'ale natural pool is the largest of a series of small natural pools, in an area about 4 km from the Dallol Spring. Gaet'ale Pool is a hot spring pool with temperatures reaching 50°C. This is not surprising, because this natural pool gets its water from underground hot springs.
The very salty water comes from the high salt content. The salt content in pool water, mostly consists of calcium chloride (CaCl2) and magnesium chloride (MgCl2).
It also contains small amounts of sodium, potassium and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) ions. The salt content is very high, reaching 43.3%. That is, in every 1 kg of water will contain 764 g of salt.
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Gaet'ale Pond |
Unfortunately, the Gaet'ale Pool is dangerous for living things, because it releases a kind of toxic gas that is odorless. This poisonous gas is deadly, as evidenced by the several carcasses of birds and insects found around the world's saltiest natural pools.