Gaetale: the saltiest body of water on the planet, where the salt content is higher than in the Dead Sea (4 photos)

One of the biggest misconceptions we believe is that the Dead Sea is the saltiest body of water on the planet. But this is completely false: there are bodies of water on the planet where the salt content is much higher. And the saltiest of them is Gaetale Pond, located in the Danakil Desert.





Gaetale is located in one of the most amazing places on the planet - in the Ethiopian Trench on the territory of the hottest desert on the globe. Its salinity is colossal: 43%. For comparison, the salinity of the World Ocean is approximately 3.5%. Well, the salinity of the well-known Dead Sea is 10% lower.

The pond is easy to get around on foot: it is about 60 meters in diameter

However, tourists getting to this remote place on the planet are in no hurry to enter the water. The fact is that lying on the water, as you can do in the Dead Sea, is unlikely to be possible here. Gaetale is unlikely to get pleasure from water, but it is possible to get a burn.

The fact is that this pond appeared relatively recently, in the early 2000s. According to local residents, the reservoir was formed after an earthquake: a thermal spring began to flow in the rift. The water in it is hot, higher than the air temperature in the desert: 50-55 degrees Celsius.





Fantastic landscape of the Danakil depression

However, the danger of swimming is not only in hot water, but also in the fact that carbon dioxide hovers over the lake. It comes out right on the surface of the lake in the form of bubbles, which immediately burst. Even its shores indicate that the pond is dangerous for living organisms: around the lake there are dead birds and insects that, apparently, died after inhaling gas vapors. Because of this, Gaetale received the nickname “killer lake” from local residents.

Hot spring of the saltiest body of water on the planet

There is also a large amount of iron in the water, which is why the reservoir and its banks have such rich colors. However, iron salts affect not only the appearance, but also the consistency of the lake: when touched, the water in it seems greasy, like oil. But this entire not particularly remarkable landscape does not scare off tourists at all: after all, many dream of seeing the saltiest body of water on the planet.