Human beings venture into the highest parts of our planet at their peril. Some might think that by climbing a great mountain they have somehow conquered it, but we can only be visitors here. This is a frozen alien world. This is the other extreme - one of the lowest hottest places on earth. It's over 100 metres below the level of the sea. But here a mountain is in gestation. Pools of sulphuric acid are indications that deep underground there are titanic stirrings. This is the Danakil Depression in Ethiopia, lying within a colossal rent of the earth's surface where giant land masses are pulling away from one another. Lava rises to the surface through this crack in the crust creating a chain of young volcanoes.


人类不畏艰险，前往我们这个星球的一个个最高处去探险。有人可能认为，登上了一座高山的山顶，就是征服了这座山，但实际上我们仅仅是一个观光客。这是一个天寒地冻的陌生世界。而这里是另一个极端----地球上最低、最热的地方之一。它低于海平面100多米，但这里一座山峰正在形成。这些硫酸池表明，地下深处有剧烈的运动。 这是埃塞俄比亚的达纳基勒洼地，它位于地表的一个巨大裂谷之中，在这里巨大的地块正在互相分离。熔岩从地壳的裂缝中涌出，形成一系列年轻的火山。