Lake Karum

{{Short description|Salt lake in Afar Region, Ethiopia}}

{{Distinguish|Lake Assal (Djibouti)}}

{{Infobox body of water

| name = Lake Karum

| other_name = Lake Asale

| image =ET Afar asv2018-01 img11 Lake Karum area.jpg

| caption =Lake Karum at sunset

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| location = Afar Region

| coords = {{Coord|14|1|N|40|25|E|type:waterbody_region:ET|display=inline,title}}

| pushpin_map = Ethiopia

| type = salt lake

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| basin_countries = Ethiopia

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| elevation = {{Convert|-120|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}

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| embedded = {{Infobox mapframe|wikidata=yes|zoom=10|marker=natural|coord={{WikidataCoord|display=i}}}}

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Lake Karum (also known as Lake Assale or Asale) is a salt lake in the Afar Region of Ethiopia. One of two salt lakes in the northern end of the Danakil Depression (the other one being Lake Afrera), it lies {{convert|120|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} below sea level.{{Cite book|title=Natural Wonders of the World|publisher=Reader's Digest Association, Inc|year=1980|isbn=0-89577-087-3|editor-last=Scheffel|editor-first=Richard L.|location=United States of America|pages=114|editor-last2=Wernet|editor-first2=Susan J.}} The volcano Erta Ale rises southeast of this lake.

Werner Munzinger, who traveled through the Afar Depression in 1867, recorded that this lake was fed by four streams: The Didic, the Ala, the Rira Guddy, and the Ragali or Awra, which is the only permanent stream flowing into Lake Karum.Munzinger, [https://www.jstor.org/stable/1798551 "Narrative of a Journey through the Afar Country", Journal of the Royal Geographical Society], 39 (1869), p. 204

North of Lake Karum is the former mining-settlement of Dallol. The lake is extremely salty and is surrounded by a salt-pan, which is still mined. The salt is transported by caravan to the rest of the country.

ET Afar asv2018-01 img01 Lake Karum area.jpg|Salt flat at Lake Karum

ET Afar asv2018-01 img60 Lake Karum area.jpg|Water of Lake Karum, visible through a hole in the salt flat

ET Afar asv2018-01 img62 Lake Karum area.jpg|Salt workers at work

ET Afar asv2018-01 img65 Lake Karum area.jpg|Processed salt

Salt transport by a camel train on Lake Assale (Karum) in Ethiopia.jpg|Salt transport by a camel train