Afar Region

Afar Region Latest News

Scientists predict that Africa’s Afar region could become Earth’s next ocean basin.

About Afar region

• Location: It is the northeastern part of Ethiopia, where the Red Sea meets the Gulf of Aden. 
• The Afar depression, also known as the Danakil depression, forms the northern part of the region and is largely desert scrubland with shallow salty lakes and long chains of volcanoes. 
• The Awash River valley forms the southern part of the area.
• Tectonic Significance: It is situated at a unique triple junction where the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, and East African Rift converge.
• Terrain: The region’s landscape is marked by deep rift valleys, volcanic plateaus, and extensive fissures, reflecting the dynamic forces reshaping the Earth’s crust. 
• It offers scientists a rare opportunity to observe the processes of continental break-up and ocean genesis in action.
• The region is well known for its early hominid fossil finds including ‘Lucy’, an Australopithecus afarensis, discovered in 1974.

Source: IE

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