Afar Depression In East Africa Filled With Volcanoes And Geysers (PHOTOS)

From the January 2012 issue of National Geographic magazine:

East Africa's Afar depression is one of the world's most geologically hyperactive regions. Fly over it in an airplane -- or in a one-person motorized paraglider, as photographer George Steinmetz did countless times -- and it may appear as frozen and still as Arctic ice. But the Afar's timeless visage hides its true nature. Below the surface, Earth's rocky rind is ripping apart, and underground chambers of magma are fueling 12 active volcanoes as well as steaming geysers, boiling cauldrons, and a fiery lake of lava.

Images courtesy of George Steinmetz and National Geographic. Captions courtesy of National Geographic. Images can be seen in the January 2012 issue of National Geographic magazine, on newsstands now.

Also on HuffPost:

Comments

[warsaw]

09:55 AM on 01/10/2012

And one day this will be the floor of a new sea.

[Le Roy Is The King]

09:13 AM on 01/10/2012

Would you drink a tablespoon of that for a trillion euro? I wouldn't

www.facebook.com/NextInShow

[Daniel Zook]

03:05 PM on 01/11/2012

Lol niceplugman!

[Andrew Harvey]

04:32 AM on 01/10/2012

So here's my argument:

The pictures above show a vast array of hazardous landscapes that would kill most animals that attempted to live in or near them, humans included.

We are all somewhat comfortable with the idea of "cleaning up" hazardous waste that humans cause, but why is it then not necessary to do the same in the case of mother-nature-induced toxic disaster?

Is that bitch special or something? Think of all the caribou that would live and breathe easier if we eliminated the sulferous mess of yellowstone, or the fish that could actually survive in the great salt lake.

[Le Roy Is The King]

09:09 AM on 01/10/2012

cleaned up mother nature? you said it yourself Don't F with the Jesus - he created it so it's gone do what it's gone do - so sit back relax and enjoy the show - and oh - change peewees drawssss

[Yonnas]

11:33 PM on 01/09/2012

The Afar Triangle (also called the Afar Depression or the Danakil Depression) is a geological depression that is caused by the Afar Triple Junction which is part of the Great Rift Valley. It overlaps Eritrea, Djibouti and the entire Afar Region of Ethiopia. The Afar Triangle includes the Danakil Depression and the lowest point in Africa, Lake Asal (155 metres / 509 feet below sea level). Only the Awash River flows into the area, where it ends in a chain of lakes that increase in salinity. Dallol is also part of the depression, one of the hottest places year-round anywhere on Earth. The climate varies from around 25 °C (77 °F) during the rainy season (September–March) to 48 °C (118 °F) during the dry season (March–September).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afar_Triangle

[Uhgg]

09:59 PM on 01/09/2012

Man that is a lot of greenhouse gases

[ambrecel]

09:58 PM on 01/09/2012

We live on an amazing planet, all we have to do is keep it clean for the generations to come. How hard is that?

[Lady Saera]

10:04 PM on 01/09/2012

Good comment...Yes, and we better start cleaning and providing laws that keep from having more of the same. We sure do live on an amazing planet, and it's a travesty to see more and more abuses.

[peacekitten]

09:53 PM on 01/09/2012

i have honestly gotten to dislike seeing these articles about amazing discoveries and the wonders of what's left of the earth, because i can think of any more is that it's just another place or new species we can destroy, defile, and wipe off the face of the earth within twenty years.

[KarateKid]

09:35 PM on 01/09/2012

Too bad Nat Geo ruined the photos by plastering their logo in such an _obnoxious way.

[You]

10:20 PM on 01/09/2012

They pay some amazing photographers some amazing money to go to amazing places to take amazing pictures so you'll be...able to run off with some free uncredited art?

[KarateKid]

10:23 PM on 01/09/2012

There's plenty of free stuff around in case you haven't noticed.

[Le Roy Is The King]

09:11 AM on 01/10/2012

they get paid and they post it on their shit so it is an obnoxious way

[Jame Gumb]

09:15 PM on 01/09/2012

my home is more beautiful

[Jim Pasterczyk]

09:01 PM on 01/09/2012

Sure beats Fox.

[ThinkCreeps]

07:00 PM on 01/10/2012

Billo doesn't believe in lava, or tides, or gravity.

[Daniel Zook]

03:07 PM on 01/11/2012

I knew the moon was fake...