The following is abstracted from Rothery and others (1988). Landsat TM data acquired 5 January 1986 show both lakes. The northern one had shrunk to no more than 60 m across and the S lake was ~150 m in diameter. Temperatures derived from the data suggest that the lakes were quiescent with cool (< 400°C) crust. Incandescent cracks at ~1,150°C occupied < 0.4% of the surface area.

Reference. Rothery, D.A., Francis, P.W., and Wood, C.A., 1988, Volcano monitoring using short wavelength infrared data from satellites: JGR, v. 93, no. B7, p. 7993-8008.

Geological Summary. The Erta Ale basaltic shield volcano is the most active in Ethiopia, with a 50-km-wide edifice that rises more than 600 m from below sea level in the barren Danakil depression. It is the namesake and most prominent feature of the Erta Ale Range. The volcano includes a 0.7 x 1.6 km elliptical summit crater hosting steep-sided pit craters. Another larger 1.8 x 3.1 km wide depression elongated parallel to the trend of the Erta Ale range is located SE of the summit and is bounded by curvilinear fault scarps on the SE side. Fresh-looking basaltic lava flows from these fissures have poured into the caldera and locally overflowed its rim. The summit caldera usually also holds at least one long-term lava lake that has been active since at least 1967, or possibly since 1906. Recent fissure eruptions have occurred on the N flank.

Information Contacts: D. Rothery, Open Univ.