Allalobed geysers and hot springs

Surprisingly little known is the beautiful geothermal area south from Tendaho and Dubti.

This area is named "Allalobad" – "the waters of Allah", but often is named after the nearby villages.

Allolabad is dotted with steam vents and small craters of hot mud and hissing gases, but most beautiful are several pools of hot water. These pools have an unusual, deep green, blue and yellow color. They are incredibly deep and are filled with hot, steaming water.

In one pool there is observed nearly constant geyser – Allallobeda Spouter, which often is 6 m tall but in rare cases – even 30 m tall. The surface of the water in this pool is 97°C hot.

There is one more geyser in another spring – it is just 0.3 m tall. Some more springs are pulsating, sometimes boiling more intensely.

Springs are depositing sinter deposits and there are fossilized remnants of plants and insects. Local Afar people are washing their clothes in less hot pools nearby – water has fine abilities to remove stains.

Further to the north-west there are remnants of an earlier, extinct geothermal field.

Alo Lobed geysers and hot springs are included in the following list:

Geysers of Africa

References

1. John Kalb. Adventures in the Bone Trade. The race to Discover Human Ancestors in Ethiopia’s Afar Depression. 2001.
2. Image of geyser by Mark Haldane, Flickr.

Allalobed geysers and hot springs on the map

Location, GPS coordinates:	11.6439 N 41.0135 E
Categories:	Thermal springs, Geysers
Values:	Geology, Visual
Rating:	(3 / 5)
Where is located?	Africa, Ethiopia, Afar
Alternate names:	Alalobada, Allalobada, Alo Lobed, Dubti Geyser, Tendaho Geyser

Landmarks of Ethiopia

Ethiopia is very interesting country with rich cultural and natural heritage. Highlights of Ethiopian heritage are its rock cut churches, ancient stelae and megaliths and places, where are found some of the oldest hominins and humans in the world.

Geysers

Hasty hydrogeologist would say: geysers are thermodynamically and hydrodynamically unstable hot springs. “Normal” people would say – geysers are hot springs which at more or less regular intervals shoot up a fountain of boiling water and steam. Sometimes these fountains are even 100 m tall… or even 450 m!

Recommended books

Landscapes and Landforms of Ethiopia

This book provides a succinct but comprehensive presentation of key geomorphological locations and topics including information about geomorphological heritage and maps to visit the most important sites.

Ethiopia

The bestselling guide to Ethiopia in recent years, this fully updated seventh edition of Philip Briggs’ acclaimed guide reveals an ancient country that continues to surpass all expectations: from the ancient Judaic cultures ofthe fertile highlands to the Animist people of the South Omo Valley, from the Afroalpine moorland of the Bale Mountains National Park to the thundering Blue Nile Falls.