Enormous salt flats and very salty lakes

Ten thousand years ago the Danakil desert was part of the Red Sea when the earth crust collapsed and water flooded in. Due to the volcanic eruptions, dams of basaltic rocks had been erected and captured the water. In the southern Danakil region, which is of volcanic origin, there are numerous lava flows which lay among the numberless cones distinctly truncated at their tops. Subjected to a blazing sun, the inland sea gradually evaporated. Enormous salt flats and very salty lakes are the last remains of that long process. There is no rain for three-quarters of the year, and what water does flow down from the highlands vanishes into shallow saline lakes. The wind, when it does blow, is too dry and scorching to bring any relief.