Lake Abbe limestone chimneys

Lake Abbe is a salt lake on the border between Djibouti and Ethiopia in East Africa. On its shore, dozens of tall limestone chimneys, some up to 50 meters high, stand on the flat ground. Steam still rises from a few of them, which makes the scene look like another planet.

The lake is the final stop of the Awash River, one of a chain of six connected lakes, and it lies in the Afar region, a very hot, dry and remote part of the world. Flamingos live on its waters. The Afar people have a settlement near the shore.

Chimneys made by hot springs

The chimneys are made of carbonate, a mineral like limestone. They form when lake water mixes with hot fluid from deep underground, and the minerals slowly build up into tall towers. Some of them still puff steam.

The ground here is volcanic, since this is where three plates of the Earth's crust are slowly pulling apart. Mount Dama Ali, a sleeping volcano, rises on the northwest shore.

A lake that changes

Lake Abbe has no outlet. Water flows in from the Awash River, and the water leaves only by evaporating, which leaves the salt behind. That makes it a very salty lake, and it swings up and down a lot when the weather changes a little.

The open water is now about 34,000 hectares, and wide salt flats lie on its southwestern side. Between 1940 and 1984 the lake shrank to two thirds of its size because of drought and water being taken from the Awash for farming.

On the globe

The model shows the limestone chimneys rising from the flats, with some still steaming.