Ten of the Deepest Depressions on Planet Earth

When you think of earth’s lowest points you would be forgiven for thinking they are all underwater, but that is not the case at all and some of them are simply beautiful places that attract thousands of tourists all year round. You might not have heard of many of these places, but we guarantee you would have heard of at least one of them…

Dead Sea

Dead Sea

The Dead Sea also called the Salt Sea, is a salt lake bordering Jordan to the east and Israel and Palestine to the west. Its surface and shores are 423 metres below sea level, Earth’s lowest elevation on land.

Sea of Galilee

The Sea of Galilee, also Kinneret, Lake of Gennesaret, or Lake Tiberias, is the largest freshwater lake in Israel, and it is approximately 53 km in circumference, about 21 km long, and 13 km wide.

Lake Assal

Lake Assal

Lake Assal is a crater lake in centralwestern Djibouti. It is located at the western end of the Gulf of Tadjoura in the Tadjoura Region, touching Dikhil Region, at the top of the Great Rift Valley, some 120 km west of Djibouti city.

Turfan Depressions

The Turpan Depression or Turfan Depression is a fault-bounded trough located around and south of the city-oasis of Turpan, in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region in far western China, about 150 kilometres southeast of the regional capital Ürümqi.

Qattara Depression

The Qattara Depression is a depression in the northwest of Egypt in the Matruh Governorate and is part of the Libyan Desert. It lies below sea level and is covered with salt pans, sand dunes and salt marshes.

Mangyshlak Peninsula

Mangyshlak Peninsula

Mangyshlak or Mangghyshlaq Peninsula is located in western Kazakhstan. It borders the Caspian Sea in the north and west. Administratively, the peninsula is in Kazakhstan’s Mangystau Province.

Danakil

The Danakil Desert lies in the Afar Triangle. It extends into the northeast of Ethiopia, the south of Eritrea and northwest of Djibouti.

Laguna del Carbon

Laguna del Carbón is a salt lake in Santa Cruz Province, Argentina. This salt lake is located 54 km from Puerto San Julián, within the Gran Bajo de San Julián, an endorheic basin situated between the San Julian Bay and the Chico River.

Death Valley

Death Valley

Death Valley is a desert valley located in Eastern California. Situated within the Mojave Desert, it is the lowest, hottest and driest area in North America.

Akdzhakaya Depression

Vpadina Akchanaya is part of the Akdzhakaya Depression in Northern Turkmenistan. It measures 81 meters (266 feet) below sea level. This arid region is located in the Daşoguz Region (or Province), within the boundary of the Karakum Desert. The closest major city is Daşoguz (or Dashoguz) to the East, and the border of Western Uzbekistan thoroughly arches to the North.

Author: Gus Barge

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