One of the most famous seas in the world is the one we call dead seaeither. The name is grandiose, dark, certainly striking. I remember that as a child I liked to see the maps and I always located it and weaved stories about that name that were impossible to ignore.
The Dead Sea is also in many of the stories of the Bible, in adventure movies, in television documentaries and today we have YouTube because there are hundreds of videos of people floating in its waters. Let us now see some facts and curiosities and we will also learn about Why is it called the Dead Sea?
Dead Sea
The so-called Dead Sea actually it is an endorheic lake, that is, a something that by definition does not evacuate its waters in great quantity neither by infiltration nor by artificial drainage. Thus, it evaporates its waters. There are many smaller lakes of the same size, but when their surface area is larger they are often referred to as 'seas'. This is the case of the Dead Sea.
Endorheic lakes are usually very saline water and even present the occasional salt flat because the salts end up accumulating. If you think that the Dead Sea is the largest sea of these characteristics, then no, it is the Caspian Sea, a huge brackish lake that extends between Asia and Europe, with an area of 371 thousand square kilometers.
The Dead Sea is in a depression 435 below sea level and it is between Israel, Jordan and the West Bank part of Palestine. In the same depression passes the Jordan River and further north is Lake Tiberias. The Greeks called the Dead Sea Lake Asfaltites, because asphalt remains (bitumen) have accumulated on its shores for thousands of years and were exploited in those times.
The Dead Sea has a maximum width of 16 kilometers and 80 kilometers in length. Of surface it has about 810 square kilometers. Its waters come from the Jordan River mainly, but also from other minor sources. It hardly rains in the area so that the water level is maintained between the tributary and the evaporation.
Why is the Dead Sea very salty? First, because it is located in an endorheic basin, that is, it has no outlet and the minerals that reach the lake remain forever there. All bodies of water, most of them, have outlets, some river, some stream, but this is not the case with our beloved Dead Sea. A) Yes, the density of water is 1,24kg/litre, so that's why we we can float literally in water: the density of our bodies is less than the density of brackish water.
Now yes, why is the Dead Sea called that? Well, by now you must be suspecting that the "dead" thing has to do with the salinity of its waters and that's how it is: the waters are between six and seven times saltier than the ocean so it is almost impossible for anything to live there. If we put a fish in its waters, it would surely die because immediately its body would be covered with salt crystals.
Furthermore, the salinity is 34.2%, compared to that of the Mediterranean Sea, which is 3.5%. It is the fourth saltiest body of water, only behind Pond Don Juan and Lake Vanda, in Antarctica, and Lake Assal in Djibouti.
Now, we said that it is "almost impossible" for anything to live, and although we call it the Dead Sea some life does exist. In fact, the waters have many halophilic microorganisms, bacteria, archaea and various viruses. Most of the algae belong to the Dunaliella variety, although some plants can be found along the coast. halophytes, plants that have adapted to soil with high concentration of salinity and alkaline levels.
Can the Dead Sea disappear? The truth is that the level of its waters has been falling for years, especially since the 60s, and it is largely due to the transformations that its main tributary, the Jordan River, has undergone. It happens that along the course of this river several dams, pumping stations and canals have been built, on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, in order to divert its fresh waters, so today only 5% of the 1.3 million cubic meters that should reach it arrives.
This area of the world has long suffered from a strong process of desertification and problems of access to water are the order of the day. There are those who propose diverting some of the water from the Red Sea, for example, but there is no human action that does not ultimately have some environmental consequence, so any future action must be carefully weighed.
Activities in the Dead Sea
We can say that the Dead Sea It is the largest free spa in the world. It has a lot of black mud on its seabed and this mud is very rich in sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium. These characteristics know how to take advantage of the many hotels that are in the area, near its coasts. For example, the Ein Gedi Hotel, in Israel.
Can you drown in the Dead Sea? Although the body still floats is there any chance to drown When and why? Well, a strong wind can blow and turn you over, so the advice is to always enter from organized beaches and with the presence of a lifeguard. Can you dive? Good question. If possible, although somewhat particular skills are required, but imagine swimming among those wonderful salt formations.
Then, it is possible to visit the Dead Sea as a tourist and it will surely be an experience that is difficult to forget and very entertaining. you can do it in Jordan or in Israel. Each country has its own offer. In the case of Jordan, in addition to its beaches, you can visit the Dead Sea Museum, a marvel in itself, with objects extracted from Lot's Cave, just above the building. And in the case of Israel you can take tours or stay in the hotel and enjoy a spa treatment.
Of course in both countries the surroundings of the Dead Sea have many historical sites that I would not fail to include in the trip: the ruins of Masada and Ein Gedi National Park, in Israel (which has a beach on the sea itself), and in Jordan you can meet the Baptism site of Jesus, Al-Maghtas.
Finally, the Dead Sea has been known by other names over time such as the Sea of Arabah, the Primordial Sea or the Sea of Salt.