From a distance, this geothermal field is vibrant and colorful, but no one can get close.
Places like the Arctic, Antarctic, equator, deserts, or the Dead Sea are known for their extreme environments, yet they still harbor unique life forms. Scientists have discovered an area so harsh that no form of life can be sustained. This is the most extreme environment on Earth: Dallol geothermal region, an extremely hot, salty, and acidic area.
Dallol is a cone-shaped volcano with a striking and unusual appearance located in the Danakil Depression in Ethiopia, where daytime temperatures exceed 45 degrees Celsius even in winter. The area is formed by the intrusion of basalt magma into salt deposits and hydrothermal activity. Dallol is situated about 100 meters below sea level, featuring red rocks, sulfur ores, and salt mines. In the local Afar language, Dallol means “destruction“.
This is the only place identified as incapable of sustaining life on Earth to date
Today, as the volcano is inactive, Dallol is dotted with elongated pools. Some are super-acidic salt ponds with extremely high negative pH levels. After a series of tests, researchers found no life in these ponds, including microorganisms. These findings were published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution.
“After analyzing a significantly larger number of samples than previous studies, we can confirm that there is no microbial life in these hot, acidic, and salty basins, nor in the adjacent magnesium-rich salt lakes known as Black and Yellow Lakes,” stated the study’s author, biologist Purificación López García from the French National Centre for Scientific Research.
The scenery in Dallol is mystical and vivid, but in reality, it is a ‘death trap’.
Humans cannot approach Dallol either, as it is an extremely toxic area. The toxicity arises from poisonous gas, hot spring reactions saturated with salt, and the presence of an unpredictable volcano. Thus, only scientists can access Dallol.
Analyzing and studying Dallol holds significant implications for science, particularly in the field of astrobiology. Researchers often use evidence of life in extreme environments on Earth as a reference point to determine whether similar environmental conditions could support life on planets both within and outside our solar system. However, the existence of Dallol, where liquid water does not support any form of life, has invalidated many previous studies.
The strange beauty of Dallol:
The study’s author stated: “Our research shows that there are places on Earth like these Dallol basins that are sterile despite having liquid water. We do not expect to find life forms on other planets existing in similar environments, or at least not if we are dealing with biochemistry similar to that on Earth.”
Dallol has also sparked considerable debate among scientists, as humanity has long believed that our planet represents life and evolution, and without life, evolution cannot occur. But in Dallol, there is truly no life.
