# Lounge > Science and Technology >  >  In Earths hottest place, life has been found in pure acid

## Sagan

For the first time, scientists have found living microbes in the blistering hot springs of Ethiopia?s Danakil Depression. 

By Jasmin Fox-Skelly 
4 August 2017 

 

In a surreal landscape of colours, dominated by luminescent ponds of  yellows and greens, boiling hot water bubbles up like a cauldron,  whilst poisonous chlorine and sulphur gases choke the air. 

Known as the ?gateway to hell?, the Danakil Depression in Ethiopia  is scorchingly hot and one of the most alien places on Earth. Yet a  recent expedition to the region has found it is teeming with life. 

In the heart of the Horn of Africa, the Danakil Depression is one of  the most remote, inhospitable and least-studied locations in the world.  It lies over 330ft (100m) below sea level in a volcanic area in  north-west Ethiopia, close to the border with Eritrea, aptly named  ?Afar?. It is part of the East African Rift System, a place where the  Earth?s internal forces are currently tearing apart three continental  plates, creating new land. 

The violent landscape is arguably the hottest place on the planet,  and one of the driest. The temperature regularly reaches 45C (113F). It  rarely rains, but seas of molten magma ooze just beneath the crust?s  surface. There are two highly active volcanoes: one of them, Erta Ale,  is one of only a handful of volcanoes to have an active, bubbling lava  lake at its summit. The area is also littered with acid ponds and  geysers, and features a deep crater called Dallol. 

More: 
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/2017...d-in-pure-acid 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More images: 

https://images.search.yahoo.com/sear...g&action=close

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## Chantellabella

You know what I see in those photos? A reminder of how beautiful earth really is. We're surrounded by the most amazing wonders yet few people even bother to look. 

Butterflies, spiders, and a resting hummingbird are also things often missed. 

So for me, the purpose of an acid pit is to remind us of the wonder of earth.

Thanks for posting this.

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