Dallol – Ethiopia
| Description | Detail |
|---|---|
| Field Title | Dallol – Ethiopia |
| Basin Name | Danakil Depression |
| Age (Host) | Modern |
| Type of Resource | Active volcanic system |
| Play Type | Sub-aerial |
| Type of volcanic rock or influence | Lava/salt interaction, hydrothermal deposits |
Introduction
The Dallol volcano represents one of the most curious of modern day analogues. A mixed salt/sulphur/potash volcanically driven hydrothermal centre, it represents the interaction of the active volcanic system with a salt basin as a so called ‘Halo-Volcanic Complex’.
Play/Analogue Type
The centre erupts hydrothermal fluids associated with shallow intrusions into evaporitic sequences of the Danakill Depression. Eruptions of sulphur and salt rich acidic brines, and more dense iron rich flows, symbolise the interaction with magma and host evaporitic sequences.
Other information
The Dallol crater provides an attractive array of minerals. A potash mining has occured there since early 1900s with a mine being set up but quickly abandoned in the 1960s. The ruins of teh mine are still there today includiong buildings made from salt bricks carved from the deposits and rusting machinery (even an abandoned Landrover).
Key References
López-García JM, Moreira D, Benzerara K, Grunewald O and López-García P (2020) Origin and Evolution of the Halo-Volcanic Complex of Dallol: Proto-Volcanism in Northern Afar (Ethiopia). Front. Earth Sci. 7:351. doi: 10.3389/feart.2019.00351
Bekele, A. and Roland Schmerold (2020). “Characterization of brines and evaporite deposits for their lithium contents in the northern part of the Danakil Depression and in some selected areas of the Main Ethiopian Rift lakes.” Journal of African Earth Sciences 170 (2020): 103904.
