Dancalia, where the Earth explodes: scientific exploration on the Hayli Gubbi volcano

The Danakil Depression (called Afar in the local language), nestled between Eritrea and Ethiopia, is not only the hottest place on the planet: it is an open-air geological laboratory known as the “Afar Triangle.” Located below sea level, the Triangle is made up of endless lava flows, from the Salt Plain at -120 meters above sea level (once an ancient seabed that has resurfaced), the geological wonder of Dallol, magical for its colors, and the perpetual activity of the volcano Erta Ale. 

ETHIOPIA. Hundreds of craters testify to the intense volcanic activity of this area, one of the few places where the effects of the opening of a system of enormous fractures in the Earth’s crust are clearly visible, of which the Great Rift Valley is the southern portion: a fracture nearly 6,000 kilometers long that stretches from Danakil to Mozambique. Here, Africa is literally splitting apart, preparing for the birth of a new ocean and a new “great island” millions of years from now.

The allure of this ‘Hell on Earth’ has drawn explorers for centuries, many of whom never returned. The last major classical expedition was organized by Raimondo Franchetti, a legendary figure of these extreme lands. Between 1928 and 1929, Franchetti crossed the Danakil starting from Assab and moving up towards the Ethiopian Highlands. In a territory then almost unknown, his journey remains one of the most significant epics of African exploration.

Yet that land, although inhospitable, with extremely high temperatures and barely marked paths, has preserved its charm for geologists, volcanologists, and paleontologists. The latter have found among the lava the remains of the oldest australopithecines in the world (including the famous Lucy, the Australopithecus afarensis dated to 3.5 million years ago). This is why Ethiopia is referred to as “The Land of Origins.”

On November 23, 2025, at 11:30 local time, the Hayli Gubbi volcano erupted, generating a powerful explosion, with an ash cloud reaching heights of 14/15 km, carried by the wind all the way to India and China, capturing the attention of the scientific community. It is in this context that the volcanologist and explorer Luca Lupi set off for Dancalia on January 15, 2026, leading a scientific expedition he organized. Knowing him, I would have bet on it! Lupi is a great expert on Afar, having been there many times and deepening his studies over time, ultimately creating a monumental and unique work in two volumes: Dancalia. The Exploration of Afar, an All-Italian Adventure.

This was an expedition of Italian and Ethiopian volcanologists led by Lupi, conducted on foot with the invaluable Afar guides and a logistics supported by a caravan of camels. Two base camps, difficulties of every kind, and the awareness of being “out of the world” for days on end, moving across treacherous and sharp volcanic terrain. Having a deep knowledge of those lands from having had the fortune to visit them repeatedly, I was very curious about what would turn out to be an extraordinary adventure, with the regret of not having been able to be part of it. But it will be Luca Lupi himself who will tell us about this experience of great scientific significance. 

I meet my friend Luca in a bar in Pontedera, where he lives, and I can’t wait to hear his stories…

The exclusive interview with explorer Luca Lupi

Luca, how did you come up with the idea for this expedition to the Hayli Gubbi volcano, which, as far as I know, has been the only one at an international level?

Yes Carlo, we were the first to organize a scientific expedition on the volcano. The idea came right after the eruption while studying satellite images and footage received from friendly guides, the eruptive dynamics that immediately seemed very strange to me: a volcano that hadn’t erupted for at least 8,000 to 9,000 years, thus considered “extinct,” producing a powerful explosive eruption, with two distinct columns of gas and ash spreading in different directions, in a general context of volcanoes that are instead characterized by effusive activity of large lava flows. So a “zombie” volcano that suddenly awakened with particular effects that deserved to be studied and investigated as soon as possible. 

Who was with you on this adventure?

A few days after the eruption, I immediately proposed the idea of organizing a scientific expedition to Professor Mauro Rosi, a volcanology lecturer at the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Pisa and a member of the Italian Civil Protection’s Commission for Major Risks. Rosi enthusiastically accepted and quickly began searching for the necessary funds to organize the expedition.  Shortly thereafter, volcanologist Mauro Coltelli from the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) in Catania, currently responsible for monitoring the volcanoes of the Aeolian Islands, joined us. Finally, Professor Gezahgen Yirgu from Addis Ababa University joined the group, providing essential assistance in expediting the necessary permits for the scientific expedition. 

2 basic fields: a back and forth on the crater: what have been the most complex issues?

Reaching the caldera area of Hayli Gubbi was quite an undertaking. To best organize the necessary logistics, we had hired my reliable Ethiopian correspondent, Belayneh Kassie, planning to use a caravan of dromedaries to carry the field equipment, provisions, water, and scientific gear across uncharted terrain. No known paths through immense lava fields often filled with hazards from fractured and sharp lava. We therefore had to proceed by separating from the caravan, which would attempt a longer but less hazardous route for the animals to reach a meeting point we had established. On the first day, exhausted from the effort, we had to sleep under the stars with the little we had since it was not possible for the dromedaries to reach us as they refused to proceed on dangerous lava terrain. Only the next day were we able to reach them and establish a base camp from where we would then head to the summit area of the volcano. This base camp, which we named “Campo Base Marinelli” in honor of Professor Giorgio Marinelli, who initiated the scientific study of Dancalia in the 1960s, was sufficiently far from the volcano to avoid being affected by the dangerous volcanic gases emitted by it. It allowed us to have a crucial starting point where we could rest, eat, and plan our actions under the shade of a gazebo specially brought from Italy. Indeed, from this camp, we set out every morning at dawn for 5 consecutive days, and in 3 hours of hard trekking, we crossed treacherous terrains of fractured pahoehoe basaltic lava, reaching the edge of the Hayli Gubbi caldera where we established the “Campo Avanzato Santacroce.” This second camp, dedicated to Prof. Roberto Santacroce, also a key figure in scientific expeditions of the 1970s and recently passed away, was intended for the scientific sampling of eruptive products. The work involved digging fairly deep trenches to sample all the layers of deposits erupted by the volcano, all while dealing with extremely high temperatures and the constant risk of being affected by gases emitted from the craters. We had another gazebo for shade and gas masks nearby and ready for use. After a day of sampling and inspections, we faced another 3 hours to return to the base camp. Very tough but exhilarating days!

Water in the Dancalo desert is precious and always a big problem: did you have enough or was it rationed?

The water could not be wasted, but we had planned ahead for a lot of water, at least 8-10 liters per person taken in various ways, in the morning with tea and drinks, various, during the day while walking and working on the samples, and in the evening with various soups. 

The Danakil is known for its extreme conditions. What was the biggest and most daring challenge during this mission?

True Carlo, you know well the Danakil and how extreme it is due to the extremely high temperatures, the main problem. But on top of that, there is the great difficulty of crossing very dangerous unknown terrains with the constant danger of gases: The greatest danger was represented by sulfur dioxide (SO₂), which is highly irritating to the respiratory tract, eyes, and skin, but also by hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) and carbon dioxide (CO₂), which are particularly dangerous in confined areas or depressions in the ground where, being heavier than air, they tend to accumulate. Temperature, terrain, and gases were the three main factors to face that characterized this challenge.

Erta Ale, “the smoking mountain” in Afar language, is well known for being one of the 3 volcanoes in the world that are constantly active, offering always captivating displays such as active lava lakes. Is there a connection with the eruption of the Hayli Gubbi volcano?

Yes, you have hit the nail on the head regarding the scientific enigma to be solved. There is definitely a relationship between the eruption of Hayli Gubbi and the Erta Ale volcano located 12 km to the northwest. Certain satellite data and some visible elements on the ground clearly show that in mid-July 2025, a “dike” emerged from beneath the eruptive center of Erta Ale, draining the basaltic magma (hot and fluid), removing it from the system and causing the collapse of the surface lava lakes that characterize the caldera, which then directed towards Lake Afrera to the southeast. We believe that during this journey it intercepted the caldera of the Hayli Gubbi volcano, bringing in new hot magma and somehow “revitalizing” it. Now, from the analysis of the collected samples, we hope to better understand if this was the mechanism that triggered the explosive eruption and how it occurred. 

Is there a reason why this volcano, dormant and inactive in living memory, has erupted with such violence?

The reason is the main scientific question that needs clarification. That is to understand whether the basaltic magma that originated from Erta Ale and reached the magma chamber of Hayli Gubbi was the trigger for an explosive eruption very different from the normal effusive activity of the Dancalia volcanoes, or if by fracturing the area it created the conditions for the rise of another type of “more evolved” magma (that is, richer in silica and therefore more viscous) directly beneath the volcano, which then caused the eruption.

What is the scientific importance of having been able to study the volcano by climbing to the crater just a few days after the explosion?

Exploring the area immediately after an explosive eruption is essential because it allows us to understand a number of details that would otherwise be impossible to observe and comprehend, as over time, the deposits can be altered by the wind, etc. By arriving quickly on site, we had a unique opportunity to thoroughly characterize an eruptive phenomenon that is still very poorly understood today. 

What do you consider to be the most significant and important results of your mission?

This explosive eruption was very particular and is capable of teaching fundamental things in the field of volcanology, such as clarifying the mechanisms and eruptive processes through which an active volcanic system far away can make a volcano previously considered “dead” and therefore not dangerous “come back to life.” This obviously has significant practical aspects considering the number of volcanoes existing in many countries, including ours, with a high degree of human urbanization. Furthermore, it is particularly important for air traffic safety. The most important result will be the information we will receive from the study of the collected samples, which will allow us to answer these questions and confirm the scientific hypotheses formulated. 

In summary, how would you define this exploration?

This scientific expedition, one of the toughest ever undertaken, is a tremendous scientific adventure that has given us unforgettable emotions and will undoubtedly produce very important scientific work at an international level.

 For those who want to learn more: https://www.dancalia.it/spedizioni/spedizione-scientifica-hayli-gubbi-novembre-2025-a

Listening to Luca while sipping a coffee in Pontedera makes the sulfurous warmth of the Afar almost tangible and the sound of footsteps on the lava. His stories are not just a chronicle of an extreme expedition, but a testament to a passion I share, feeling the same emotions. They bring to mind the nights when, lying on the cot, I felt the dry air caressing my tired face from the hike, but enchanted by that starry sky, I watched the Milky Way, the constellations so close and bright that it seemed almost possible to touch the stars with my hands. And before sinking into a deep sleep, the strange sensation of knowing that, beneath you, the Earth is alive, pressing and bubbling. I will never forget it. 

As Luca closes his notebook full of notes and coordinates, his thoughts inevitably drift to that desert of salt and fire that never fails to haunt the minds of those who have known and experienced it. Danakil gets under your skin: it’s a primordial African longing that is impossible to resist.

We say goodbye like this, with a promise. Next time, we will leave our footprints on the lava fields and along the bubbling slopes of Erta Ale together. We will return there, where the Earth “pulses,” to feel small and alive again in the face of the power of creation.

All images courtesy of Luca Lupi