Michael Van Ewijk Gallery

Afar salt miner preparing salt blocks at Lake Assal

Afar salt miner preparing salt blocks at Lake Assal. Except during the heat of summer, Afar tribesmen make the 100 km round trip with camel caravans to the salt lakes. Blocks of salt are cut from the lake crust and loaded onto camels. Almost all of Ethiopia's salt production comes from Lake Assal. Danakil Depression, Afar Region, Ethiopia

© Michael Van Ewijk/AUSCAPE All rights reserved

The wreck of the Maheno once a luxury passenger ship that came to grief

The wreck of the Maheno once a luxury passenger ship that came to grief in June 1935. The wreck was used for bombing practice during World War II. Maheno Beach is part of Seventy-Five Mile Beach. Great Sandy National Park, Fraser Island, Queensland, Australia

© Michael Van Ewijk/AUSCAPE All rights reserved

Aground, Australia, Australian, Biosphere, Day, Famous Place, Fraser Island, Island, Outdoors, Reserve, Rusted, Seventy Five Mile Beach, Ship, Shipwreck, Stranded, Tourism, Travel Destination, Vessel, World Heritage Area, World Heritage Site, Wreck

Salt crust on the surface of Lake Assal

Salt crust on the surface of Lake Assal, one of the salt lakes in the Danakil Depression, along the border between Ethiopia and Eritrea. The salt flats are over 100 metres below sea level. The salt crust, often up to 1, 000 metres thick, goes deep in the Earth's crust and was left when the Red Sea flooded the Danakil Depression 30, 000 years ago. Temperatures regularly reach 50?C and higher in the summer. Afar Region, Ethiopia

© Michael Van Ewijk/AUSCAPE All rights reserved