The Nabro Volcano is an active stratovolcano in the Southern Red Sea Region of Eritrea . It is located at the south-east end of the Danakil Alps in the Danakil Depression . Before its 2011 eruption , the volcano was widely believed to be extinct.
20-636: Part of the Afar Triangle , the Nabro Volcano is one of many volcanic caldera complexes in the northeasternmost part of the East African Rift valley region. The twin calderas likely formed during an eruption of about 20 to 100 cubic kilometres consisting of ignimbrite , although the date of their formation is unknown. The subaerial volume of volcanic material within the Nabro Volcanic Range
40-586: A female hominin which he named " Ardi ", it took nearly 15 years to safely excavate, preserve, and describe the specimen and to prepare publication of the event. The Afar Depression is the product of a tectonic triple-rifts junction (the Afar triple junction), where the spreading ridges forming the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden emerge on land and meet the East African Rift . The conjunction of these three plates of Earth's crust
60-561: Is an area of the Afar Region of Ethiopia . A hominin fossil named Selam , a specimen of the Australopithecus afarensis species, was found in this area. Papers also propose the earliest evidence of stone tool use at this site in the form of cut marks on animal bone. However there has been argument about this proposal. Dikika is located in Mille woreda . Dikika is also given to name
80-473: Is composed of lava , mostly basalt . One of Earth's five lava lakes , Erta Ale is found here, as well as Dabbahu Volcano. It has been proposed that the Afar Depression is underlain by a mantle plume , a great upwelling of mantle that melts to yield basalt as it approaches the surface. 11°30′N 41°00′E / 11.5°N 41.0°E / 11.5; 41.0 Dikika The Dikika
100-506: Is likely on the order of 550 km (130 cu mi). Although it had undergone no historically reported eruptions, the Nabro Volcano erupted shortly after midnight local time on 13 June 2011, after a series of earthquakes up to magnitude 5.7 in the Eritrea-Ethiopia border region. The ash plume was seen on satellite drifting to the west-northwest along the border, spanning about 50 km wide and several hundred kilometres across in
120-478: Is mostly confined to drought-resistant plants such as small trees (e.g. species of the dragon tree ), shrubs, and grasses. Wildlife includes many herbivores such as Grévy's zebra , Soemmerring's gazelle , beisa and, notably, the last viable population of African wild ass ( Equus africanus somalicus ). Birds include the ostrich , the endemic Archer's lark , the secretary bird , Arabian and Kori bustards , Abyssinian roller , and crested francolin . In
140-481: Is near Lake Abbe . The Afar Depression is one of two places on Earth where a mid-ocean ridge can be studied on land, the other being Iceland . Within the triangle, the Earth's crust is slowly rifting apart at a rate of 1–2 cm (0.4–0.8 in) per year along each of the three rift zones forming the "legs" of the triple junction. The immediate consequences are recurring sequences of earthquakes with deep fissures in
160-632: The Afar Depression ) 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
180-525: The Danakil Desert . About 128 kilometres (80 mi) from the Red Sea the Awash ends in a chain of salt lakes, where its waterflow evaporates as quickly as it is supplied. Some 1,200 km (460 sq mi) of the Afar Depression is covered by salt deposits, and mining salt is a major source of income for many Afar groups. The Afar Depression biome is characterized as desert scrubland . Vegetation
200-600: The Gawis cranium hominin from Gona ; several sites of the world's oldest stone tools; Hadar , the site of Lucy , the fossilized specimen of Australopithecus afarensis ; and Dikika , the site of the fossilized child Selam , an australopithecine hominin. In 1994, near the Awash River in Ethiopia, Tim D. White found the then-oldest known human ancestor: 4.4 million-year-old Ar. ramidus . A fossilized almost complete skeleton of
220-621: The Afar region, including the Middle Awash region and the sites of Hadar , Dikika , and Woranso-Mille. These sites have produced specimens of the earliest (fossil) hominins and of human tool culture, as well as many fossils of various flora and fauna. Dallol in the Danakil Depression is one of the hottest places year-round anywhere on Earth. There is no rain for most of the year; the yearly rainfall averages range from 100 to 200 mm (4 to 8 in), with even less rain falling closer to
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#1732869555776240-616: The Red Sea to breach the highlands surrounding the Afar Depression and flood the valley. Geologists predict that in about 10 million years the whole 6,000 km (3,700 mi) length of the East African Rift will be submerged, forming a new ocean basin as large as today's Red Sea, and separating the Somali plate and the Horn of Africa from the rest of the continent. The floor of the Afar Depression
260-599: The coast. Daily mean temperatures at Dallol ranged from 30 °C (86 °F) in January to 39 °C (102 °F) in July in six years of observations from 1960 to 1966. The Awash River , flowing north-eastward through the southern part of the Afar Region, provides a narrow green belt which enables life for the flora and fauna in the area and for the Afars , the nomadic people living in
280-581: 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. The Awash River is the main waterflow into the region, but it runs dry during the annual dry season, and ends as a chain of saline lakes . The northern part of the Afar Depression is also known as the Danakil Depression . The lowlands are affected by heat, drought , and minimal air circulation, and contain
300-771: The hottest places (year-round average temperatures) of anywhere on Earth. The Afar Triangle is bordered as follows (see the topographic map): on the west by the Ethiopian Plateau and escarpment ; to the north-east (between it and the Red Sea) by the Danakil block ; to the south by the Somali Plateau and escarpment; and to the south-east by the Ali-Sabieh block (adjoining the Somali Plateau). Many important fossil localities exist in
320-657: The hours immediately following the reported eruption, and reportedly reaching 15 km (9.3 mi) high. On June 13, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had to cut short a trip to Ethiopia due to the ash cloud, which was projected to enter a west-to-east jetstream and enter the atmosphere of countries such as Egypt , Yemen , Israel , Iraq , Jordan , Sudan , Somalia , Djibouti and Saudi Arabia . The ash cloud began disrupting air traffic as UAE -based Emirates flights were cancelled along with Saudi Arabian Airlines flights. Luxor International Airport in Luxor, Egypt
340-481: The southern part of the plain lies the Mille-Serdo Wildlife Reserve . The Afar Triangle is a cradle source of the earliest hominins . It contains a paleo-archaeological district that includes the Middle Awash region and numerous prehistoric sites of fossil hominin discoveries, including: the hominids and possible hominins, Ardi , or Ardipithecus ramidus , and Ardipithecus kadabba , see below;
360-544: The surface, known as the Dabbahu fissure . Related eruptions have taken place in Teru and Aura woredas . The rift has recently been recorded by means of three-dimensional laser mapping. The region's salt deposits were created over time as water from the Red Sea periodically flooded the depression and evaporated; the most recent such flood was roughly 30,000 years ago. Over the next millions of years, geologists expect erosion and
380-481: The terrain hundreds of metres long, and the valley floor sinking broadly across the depression. During September and October 2005 some 163 earthquakes of magnitudes greater than 3.9 and a volcanic eruption occurred within the Afar rift at the Dabbahu and Erta Ale volcanoes. Some 2.5 cubic kilometers of molten rock was injected from below into the plate along a dyke between depths of 2 and 9 km (1 and 6 mi), forcing open an 8 m (26 ft) wide gap on
400-465: Was placed on a state of emergency. The MODVOLC noted on the 9 April 2012 that a thermal anomaly was detected at Nabro and that such anomalies had been detected throughout March. The activity is focused on the Southern Caldera wall. The exact nature of the activity is unknown, but activolcans.info noted that there might be a lava lake there. Afar Triangle The Afar Triangle (also called
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