About Dead Sea Minerals |
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It is nearly impossible for a person to sink or dive under water in the Dead Sea. The reason for this is because of the very dense amount of salt that is found there. This is also the reason why whenever you try to float in the Dead Sea you will be held up as though you were floating on an invisible air mattress.
Along with all of the salt that is found in the Dead Sea, there is also an unusually high mineral content. In fact, there is ten times more minerals found in the Dead Sea than in sea salt. It is important to understand the importance of each of these different minerals that are found in the Dead Sea if you want to understand why they have such excellent effects on your skin. These minerals include:
1. Potassium makes up 24% of the minerals in the Dead Sea. It is primarily responsible for regulating your skin's moisture.
2. Zinc is vital for the natural regulation of skin cell
generation, for stimulating collagen renewal and it is also a natural
UV blocker.
3. Magnesium makes up around 30% of the minerals that are fund
in the Dead Sea. It stimulates the building of proteins, moves energy
between cells, calms your body, reduces your skin's aging process,
relieves stress and the retention of fluids.
4.Sulfur is a natural disinfectant, converts toxins into non-toxins and it helps with digestion and the absorption of vitamins.
5. Chlorine is responsible for maintaining the correct alkaline
and acid balance in your body, which is very important whenever it
comes to cell metabolism.
6. Iodine is necessary for energy and cell metabolism,
maintaining proper water balance and helping cells be able to absorb
nourishment and expel waste products.
7. Potassium is used to regulate muscle contractions and the nervous system so that you do not develop water retention.
8. Sodium helps your body's cells be able to absorb nourishment
and expel waste; balancing your body's lymphatic fluid and helping your
skin be able to maintain a neutral moisture balance and relieve and
prevent cramps.
9. Calcium is necessary when it comes to strengthening your
cell's membranes and cleansing your pores; the production and
maintenance of healthy teeth, nails and bones; regulating your heart
muscles and nerves; aid in stopping the retention of water; boosts
circulation; and promotes the development of corrective tissue beneath
your skin.
10. Magnesium assists your body in utilizing other essential nutrients and with cell metabolism.
11. Bromine helps to naturally repair your body's cell
metabolism process, relax your body and relieve muscle aches and joint
stiffness.
Now that you understand what each of the different types of minerals in the Dead Sea are and what their benefits are, there is something else that you need to understand as well. These minerals also act as carriers for all of the other nutrients that are present within the products. As such, you should know that any product that has Dead Sea minerals in it will work really well for both your body and your skin.
The Dead Sea is primarily fed by the Jordan River, which began to be drained for irrigation in the 1960s. This is of great importance because without the constant supply of water that comes from the Jordan River, the Dead Sea began to experience a lot of unfortunate changes.
In order to be able to
understand the most dramatic change that took place with the Dead Sea, you must
first understand the stratification that marked this body of water. Throughout
the years the Dead Sea has served as a gigantic, natural spa that has soothed
many of the kings, queens and peasants throughout history. It has also served
as the source of Dead Sea salts that people from around the world are anxious
to purchase. Once the Jordan River stopped so generously feeding the Dead Sea,
there was a division in the layers of the water. The lower layer was cool and
completely saturated with salt. On the other hand, the upper layer was warm and
the amount of salt increased greatly in concentration. In fact, it grew to such
a point that the salt level in the upper part of the Dead Sea actually
contained more salt than the lower level while still remaining generally
warmer. This underwent yet another change in 1978/1979 when the upper level of
water cooled as the concentration of salt weighted it down.
Just by looking at this dramatic change, you can see how this historic body of water is being affected by the region's activities today. Nevertheless, the needs of those who live upriver on the Jordan River have only continued to increase. This has caused the Dead Sea to shrink more and more each year. It is unlikely that the Dead Sea will ever disappear for good since the surface area is continuously decreasing and thus decreasing the amount of evaporation that is taking place. However, the Dead Sea may soon be unrecognizable as the great sea that it use to be.
So, what can be done in order to save the Dead Sea today?
Unfortunately, it is both unlikely and unrealistic to expect that the human consumption of the Jordan river is going to slow down at all. Fortunately though, there have been a lot of important steps taken in order to solve this problem. One such step took place in 2005 when Israel, Jordan and Palestine all came together to sign a document in which they agreed to study solutions to this problem. The main solution that they have come up with so far is the "Two Seas Canal". This is meant to channel water from both the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea in such a manner as to replenish the Dead Sea's water supply. An added benefit of this is that it will also be able to provide the area with hydroelectric power. However, there is also a downside and that downside is that there is the potential for the environment to be damaged and there may also be another shock to the saline level of the Dead Sea.
| ПИРСИНГ - УКРАШЕНИЕ СВОЕГО ТЕЛА | |
| Когда то пирсинг воспринимался в нашем обществе в
штыки и ассоциировался с распущенностью нравов, как и любое новое
веяние моды или новое течение культуры. Сегодня пирсингом украшают своё
тело не только экстравагантные модницы, но и очень консервативные
особы. Пирсинг (piercing) – это не только прерогатива молодого поколения, это явление дошло до нас с древних времён. Раньше, правда, любому проколу тела и любому украшению придавали особенный смысл. В Древнем Египте прокол пупка имели люди, вступившие в общину, такой пирсинг подтверждал их права, которые предоставляла община своим членам. У индейцев применялось много различных видов пирсинга. Прокалывались уши, губы, нос и прочие части тела. Такие проколы обозначали различные достижения войнов. Пирсинг сосков первоначально был прерогативой мужчин. Появился он ещё в Древнем Риме. Первоначально существовала данная традиция среди телохранителей Цезаря, потом распространилась среди всех войнов. Проколотые соски символизировали доблесть и мужество римских воинов. Вставленные в соски кольца, имели и практичное предназначение, они поддерживали накидки, которые носили римские воины. Пирсинг сосков существовал и в Англии в строгую Викторианскую эпоху. Дамы прокалывали свои соски, стараясь сделать свою грудь более красивой и изящной, и подчеркнуть собственную женственность и сексуальность. Также давно известна традиция на флоте. Моряк, который впервые пересёк экватор, обзаводился серьгой. Этот отличительный знак был предметом гордости для любого матроса. Культура пирсинга существует непрерывно с древнейших времен. Самый известный вид пирсинга это декорация ушей. Уши начали прокалывать женщины. Сегодня без такого украшения – серёг сегодня мы не можем представить современную женщину. Вскоре моду на прокалывание ушей подхватили уже и геи, хиппи, панки. Повальное увлечение прокалыванием ушей началось в Англии в 70-х годах. Английские анархисты - панки и хиппи прокалывали себе уши протестуя против общественных устоев. В 80-х годах мода прокалывать уши появилась среди рэперов. В наши дни проколы ушей распространены как у женщин, так и у сильной половины человечества, во всём мире, вне зависимости от их принадлежности к какой либо субкультуре или сексуальной ориентации. В 1991 году музыкальный фестиваль - Луллапалуза (Lollapalooza), проводимый в Америке дал мощный толчок развитию современного пирсинга. Причиной послужило присутствие пирсеров, прокалывавших всем желающим любые части тела. Во время очередного конкурса Мисс Америка в 1997 году одна из участниц конкурса проколола себе пупок. После этого конкурса пирсинг стал Массовой культурой. Вершины моды пирсинг достиг, когда некоторые известные всему миру личности начали представать перед публикой с проколами частей своего тела. В 1994 году Мадонна стала регулярно появляться с проколотым носом на публике. Затем с пирсингом стали представать певицы, пример: Мэл Би (SpiceGirls) с проколом языка и модели - Наоми Кэмпбелл с бриллиантами в пупке. Самым мощным вкладом в распространение по миру пирсинга считается известность Кейта Флинта (The Prodigy). В последующем пирсинг стали широко использовать другие направления массовой культуры: модельеры в своих показах, артисты, художники. Проколы стали демонстрировать спортсмены Томми Ли и Деннис Родман, Девид Бэкхем и др. В XXI столетии новый шик моды на пирсинг заложили поп-дивы Бритни Спирс и Кристина Агилера произвели новый взрыв моды на пирсинг. Демонстрирование своих проколов Агилерой привели к тому, что каждая вторая девочка в США хочет “пирсинг как у Агилеры”. Другие звёзды тоже не отстают, примером тому являются Перис Хилтон с безумно дорогими пирсингом в своём пупке; Ферджи с маленьким банане в брови; Джанет Джексон, засветившая сосок с оригинальным украшением. В современном мире пирсинг уже не является привилегией какой-то субкультуры и приобрел статус массового явления. Сегодня проколы делают почти все, и приверженцы BDSM, и обычные офисные служащие, и рабочие. Виды пирсинга Пирсинг ушей. Самым распространенным видом пирсинга является прокол ушей. Более всего распространён прокол мочек ушей, его чаще всего делают девочкам еще в раннем возрасте. Также допускаются проколы хряща ушной раковины. Пирсинг пупка. Прокол пупка один из женских видов пирсинга. Украшение на животике смотрится очень красиво и сексуально, вот почему многих многих мужчин данный вид пирсинга очень заводит. Прокол чаще всего делается в верхней части пупка, но также возможен и нижней части и боковой. В прокол вставляется специальное украшение, называемое бананом. Пирсинг губ. Очень, очень сексуально выглядят маленькие милые колечки, пронизывающие чаще всего нижнюю губу. Губы прокалываются практически в любом месте. Пирсинг языка. Сегодня тоже довольно частое явление. При проколе языка прокол кончика или боковых частей выглядит более оригинально, прокол центральной части считается стандартным. Пирсинг носа. Особой популярностью теперь пользуется романтическая дырочка в ноздре. Также прокалывают носовую перегородку и переносицу. Пирсинг бровей. Прокол брови обычно делают опытные пирсеры, те, кто сделал себе уже 2-3 прокола. Пирсинг сосков. Соски. Колоть эту частичку организма можно и вертикально и горизонтально, и даже по диагонали. Говорят, что прокол этой части тела повышает чувствительность. Пирсинг копчика. Существует и такой прокол. Прокол копчика – это один из самых сложных видов пирсинга. Интим-пирсинг. Данный вид пирсинга делают особо оригинальные личности. Интим-пирсинг в основном делают для остроты сексуальных ощущений. Кроме описанных видов пирсинга бывают и проколы других частей тела - шеи, щек, рук и пр. Также особым изыском в пирсинге считается установка туннелей. Это специальные украшения в виде трубок, которые вставляются в отверстие прокола. Чаще всего туннели вставляют в ухо, язык или нижнюю губу. ПОМНИТЕ, ЧТО ПИРСИНГ ДОЛЖЕН ВЫПОЛНЯТЬСЯ ПРОФЕССИОНАЛЬНЫМ МАСТЕРОМ, ОБЛАДАЮЩИМ СООТВЕТСВУЮЩИМИ ЗНАНИЯМИ И НАВЫКАМИ, В СООТВЕТСТВУЮЩЕЙ ОБСТАНОВКЕ. ЛУЧШЕЕ РЕШЕНИЕ ЭТО СПЕЦИАЛИЗИРОВАННЫЙ САЛОН, ИМЕЮЩИЙ ЛИЦЕНЗИЮ! НЕ ДОВЕРЯЙТЕ РАССКАЗАМ ДРУЗЕЙ РАССКАЗЫВАЮЩИХ, ЧТО ОНИ СДЕЛАЛИ ПРОКОЛ САМОСТОЯТЕЛЬНО В ДОМАШНИХ УСЛОВИЯХ. ПРОБЛЕМЫ СО ЗДОРОВЬЕМ МОГУТ ОБОЙТИСЬ ВАМ ОЧЕНЬ ДОРОГО! |
| Location | Palestine, Israel, Jordan |
|---|---|
| Funding | US $15 million for feasibility study |
Environmentalists, historians, and politicians alike are concerned about the shrinking of the Dead Sea over the past 40 years. Population pressure on water resources in the region and the management of the Jordan River basin, which feeds the lake, have contributed to the steady drop in the level of the Dead Sea – at a rate of more than one meter per year, by some estimates.
In 2005, the governments of the three countries surrounding the Dead Sea – Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Territories – agreed on a way to halt the sea’s decline. The proposed solution entails building a 110 mile canal and tunnel system to transfer water from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea. The three parties asked the World Bank to oversee the implementation of a feasibility study and environmental and social assessment for the project in accordance with the Bank’s policies and guidelines.
The proposed Red-Dead sea canal route
Restoring the water level in the Dead Sea is not the project’s only objective. Project proponents aim to utilize the transfer of water from the Red Sea, which is at an altitude 400 meters above that of the Dead Sea, to generate hydroelectric power. Perhaps of even higher priority is the use of the project to boost water supplies to the riparian countries. The transferred water will undergo a desalination process on its way from the Red Sea in order to extract drinking water for use by populations in Jordan, Israel and Palestine.
All three countries suffer from severe water scarcity, defined as per capita water supply of less than 500 cubic meters of water per year. The deposit of the residual concentrated salt water (or "brine") in the Dead Sea raises concerns about potential damage to the sea’s chemical composition and biology.
The feasibility study for the project is expected to take about 2 years and will cost $15.5 million. The study is to be financed through a multi-donor trust fund, and the project itself could cost as much as $5 billion and take up to 20 years to complete.
Phu Hoang Office completes Dead Sea research project
New York architect Phu Hoang Office was shortlisted in the Architectural Association’s Environmental Tectonics V2.0 2007 competition for its compelling research project, “No Man’s Land”. Sited in the middle of the Dead Sea, the project proposes a remedy to an ecological crisis while also altering the circumstances to a long-standing political problem-the control of water.
No Man’s Land focuses attention on the disappearing Dead Sea and its associated water problem. The project envisions a network of artificial islands that would provide new tourist amenities, renewable energy production and fresh water collection. One of the ambitions of the islands would be to develop a building technology that extracts water molecules from the humid air above the sea. The project asks if it is possible to shift the conditions of water supply in the region, thereby providing new conditions for political change. It also asks how architects can participate in these complex political dynamics and decision-making processes.
NO MAN’S LAND: Innovative Watertecture in the Dead Sea
In the Dead Sea region, control of water is a source of political friction and presents an ecological quandary that threatens the drinking supply for inhabitants. A research project from New York-based architect Phu Hoang Office seeks to address and solve these site specific issues with ‘No Man’s Land’, a series of artificial islands that would provide recreation, tourist attractions, renewable energy, and create fresh water.
The project was shortlisted in the Architectural Association’s Environmental Tectonics 2007 competition for its innovative approach to a complex issue. Showing how architecture can be part of multi-disciplinary solutions, ‘No Man’s Land’ tackles the environmental, political and humanitarian problems related to the procurement of fresh water for the region.
As a network of built islands with three distinct designs, ‘No Man’s Land’ would create an artificial archipelago that employs a variety of building technology. In order to become a source of fresh water, the islands will extract water molecules from the air to be desalinated. Salinity gradient solar ponds, water purification tanks, and water filtering processes will all be integrated into the designated “water islands” of the chain. The other two island designs will be for tourists and solar energy production, providing self sufficient power as well as creating revenue.
Good day friends! I would like to tell you about the problems and needs
of the Dead Sea, its history and its uniqueness! can someone wants to
discuss it - I will be happy!
forward to your comments and messages!
добрый день друзья! я хотел бы вам рассказать о проблемах и нуждах Мертвого моря, его истории и его уникальности! может кто-то захочет это обсуждать - я буду рад!
жду ваших откликов и сообщений!
EIN GEDI, When the Ein Gedi Spa opened in 1986 to pamper visitors with massages, mud wraps and therapeutic swims, customers walked just a few steps from the main building to take their salty dip in the Dead Sea.
Nineteen years later, the water level has dropped so drastically that the shoreline is three-quarters of a mile away. A red tractor hauls customers to the spa's beach and back in covered wagons.
"The sea is just running out, and we keep running after it," said Boaz Ron, 44, manager of the resort. "In another 50 years, it could run out another kilometer."
It may sound redundant, but the Dead Sea, one of the world's cultural and ecological treasures, is dying. In the last 50 years, the water level has dropped more than 80 feet and the sea has shrunk by more than a third, largely because the Jordan River has gone dry. In the next two decades, the sea is expected to fall at least 60 more feet, and experts say nothing will stop it.
The decline has been particularly rapid since the 1970s, when the water began dropping three feet a year. That created a complex domino effect that is slowly destroying some of Israel's most cherished plant and wildlife reserves along the Dead Sea's shores, a key resting stop along the annual migration route for 500 million birds that fly between Europe and Africa. The receding waters have left huge mud flats with hundreds of sinkholes that threaten to collapse roads and buildings and have forced a development freeze on Israel's side of the sea, which lies on the border with Jordan.
"I'm looking at the reality, and nothing will change in the next 20 to 40 years -- the sinkholes will continue opening even more, the infrastructure will be destroyed from stream erosion, the water level will drop and affect the ecosystem," said Galit Cohen, head of environmental policy at Israel's Environmental Ministry. "The forecast for the future is very bad."
The main problem, experts agree, is that most of the water that once flowed into the sea -- the saltiest large body of water in the world and, at 1,371 feet below sea level, the lowest point on Earth -- is being diverted for drinking water and agriculture, so there is not enough to offset the high evaporation rate. In addition, Israeli and Jordanian industries on the south end of the sea are letting 180 million gallons of the mineral-rich water evaporate every day -- about 66 billion gallons a year -- to extract chemicals.
"The situation of the Dead Sea is something that happened because there's a water shortage and it's needed for other uses," Cohen said. "You can say, 'Don't think of anything else. Let the Dead Sea have the water,' but no one will listen. They'll say, 'So we won't have water in Tel Aviv or the Negev or where?' "
The best hope for a solution, some believe, is to pump salt water from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea via a proposed 120-mile Red-Dead Canal, a $5 billion project that the Jordanian government is pursuing with international donors. The World Bank will help fund a $20 million study of the idea.
But Israeli experts say similar proposals -- including a Med-Dead canal to pump water from the Mediterranean -- have been around for more than 30 years and are unlikely to work. According to Amos Bein of the Geological Survey of Israel, chemical and biological reactions produced by mixing Dead Sea water with seawater could change the blue color of the Dead Sea to white or red or create deadly gases.
In the end, he said, the sea will continue falling about three feet a year for the next 150 years or so, until the water becomes so supersaturated with salt that evaporation effectively stops. At that point, according to Bein, the surface of the Dead Sea will be one-third smaller and about 434 feet lower than today.
"It's possible to see the half-full part of the glass," he said. "The Dead Sea will never dry up."
A River of Sewage
The Dead Sea covers about 250 square miles in a deep valley bordered by Israel, Jordan and the West Bank. But to understand why the sea is dying, begin about 60 miles north, at a spot just below the Sea of Galilee that today is the northernmost source of water for the lower Jordan River -- an open drain that pumps out 720,000 gallons of raw sewage a day.
White foam flutters in small pools around rocks. Chunks of concrete, strips of plastic piping, bicycle tires and other litter clutter the shore. The stench of human waste fills the air. If the scene is not cautionary enough, a sign warns: "Danger! Don't enter or drink the water."
"This is the end of the Jordan River as far as clean water is concerned," Gidon Bromberg, head of the Tel Aviv office of Friends of the Earth Middle East, said as he walked around the site. "From here down to the Dead Sea, the Jordan River has been turned into a sewage canal -- little more."
The Jordan -- best known as the river where Christians believe Jesus was baptized -- used to be the main source of water for the Dead Sea, delivering about 1.3 billion cubic meters of water every year, or about three-quarters of all the water that flowed into the sea.
Today, virtually every major spring and tributary that once flowed into the Jordan has been dammed or diverted for drinking water and crop irrigation by Israel, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. The Jordan now delivers less than 100 million cubic meters of water a year to the Dead Sea, and as much as half of that is raw sewage, according to Bromberg and other environmentalists.
Months go by in the summer when parts of the river are dry. At Jesus's baptismal site, five miles north of where the Jordan trickles into the Dead Sea, pilgrims fill souvenir bottles with greenish-brown water.
"The irony is that today the Jordan is being kept alive by sewage," Bromberg said.
As the level of the Dead Sea falls, it affects everything around it. Underground pools of fresh water are retreating, pulling water away from plants in major wildlife areas bordering the Dead Sea. The fresh water is hitting pockets of salt deep underground and dissolving it, causing the earth above to collapse into giant sinkholes, which recently forced the closure of an army camp and a trailer park. As the shoreline shifts, rain runoff digs deep gorges in the newly exposed landscape and wipes out roads and any other infrastructure in its path.
"The real solution is that we need to be smarter and use our water in a wiser way," said Ariella Gotlieb, a biologist with Israel's parks authority who works at the Ein Gedi Nature Reserve, an oasis of dense tropical plants, hyenas, ibex, wolves and more than 200 species of birds. The reserve is one of several plant and wildlife sanctuaries threatened by changes in the local ecosystem.
Gotlieb and others said the traditional Zionist dream to "make the desert bloom" has to be updated to reflect the scarcity of resources in a more densely populated country. She pointed to the reserve's neighbor, Kibbutz Ein Gedi, and said it was no longer appropriate for residents there to use natural spring water to tend fruit groves and a botanical garden with more than 800 species of exotic plants in the middle of the desert. Of the 3 million cubic meters of water that flow from Ein Gedi's four springs, not a drop reaches the Dead Sea anymore, she said.
"The Dead Sea is receding because the Jordan River is dead -- it has no relation to the botanical gardens," responded Meir Ron, a founder of the 550-resident kibbutz. He said the problem was a classic battle between man and nature.
"When I was born in Haifa in 1935, there were 600,000 people in Israel, and now there are more than 6 million," he said. "What can we do?"
Chemical Extraction
From Masada, the mountaintop citadel that was fortified by Herod the Great and became a Jewish cultural icon and a symbol of the struggles of modern Israel, the view is of mud flats stretching for miles into Jordan.
"Herod built Masada overlooking the Dead Sea, but he'd turn in his grave if he could see what we've done to it," said Bromberg, the Friends of the Earth environmentalist. "You don't have to be Jesus to walk across the Dead Sea anymore."
Below Masada, the southern edge of the sea is about 15 miles north of where it used to be. From here, pumps siphon water into a six-mile canal that carries it through the mud flats to a large complex of evaporation ponds. Though marketed by Israeli hotels as the "southern basin" of the Dead Sea, the area is operated entirely by the Dead Sea Works chemical company to harvest minerals from the water. Without the pumps, the basin would soon go dry.
The evaporation process leaves a seven-inch residue of salt that settles to the bottom of the main pond every year, creating the exact opposite problem that the northern Dead Sea is facing. As the bottom rises, the water level does too, and posh Israeli hotels along the shore are building huge sand dikes in a losing fight against the floodwater.
The Sheraton hotel has had to rebuild and raise its dike three times to hold back the adjacent pond, which is now well above the hotel's swimming pool and ground floor, according to Udi Sicherman, chairman of the Dead Sea Hotel Association. The solution, he said, is a $200 million proposal to build a huge wall inside the ponds, creating a massive lagoon in front of the hotels where the water level could be controlled.
The Dead Sea Works, one of the world's leading producers of potash for fertilizer, operates an 18-mile-long maze of evaporation ponds. Discolored water that threatens to flood roads is held back by a network of dirt berms. The company's plant is a massive industrial complex surrounded by vast ponds and mountains of chemicals.
Environmentalists say that the Dead Sea Works evaporation ponds are responsible for 25 to 30 percent of the annual drop in the Dead Sea and that the company, which just had its state concession extended to 2030, is reaping a financial bonanza from the increased concentration of minerals in the water. "They are the only ones making good money. They want the water to decline," said the Environmental Ministry's Cohen.
Menachem Zinn, chief operating officer for Dead Sea Works, said the main cause of the sea's shrinkage was diversion of water from the Jordan River and other sources, not the company's evaporation ponds. He said the Dead Sea Works and industries that serve it employ about 35,000 people. The company recently completed a $70 million project to upgrade its ecological standards, he said.
"We try to keep the environment the best we can and at the same time make 3.5 million tons of potash and give so many families the ability to live from it," he said. At the Ein Gedi Spa, where Boaz Ron is watching the Dead Sea and his business dry up together, the answer is simple.
"You have to put a limit on things. If you can't put the water in, you have to stop taking it out," he said. "You need to reach a balance with nature, or the Dead Sea will become the Dry Sea."
Also known as Bahr Lut, Eastern Sea, Lake of Asphalt, Salt Sea, “Sea of Sodom and Gomorrah,” Sea of the Arabah, Sea of the Devil, “Sea of the Plain,” Sea of Zoar, Stinking Lake
Known in the Bible as the "Salt Sea" or the "Sea of the Arabah," this inland body of water is appropriately named because its high mineral content allows nothing to live in its waters. Other post-biblical names for the Dead Sea include the "Sea of Sodom," the "Sea of Lot," the "Sea of Asphalt" and the "Stinking Sea." In the Crusader period, it was sometimes called the "Devil's Sea." All of these names reflect something of the nature of this lake.
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The Dead Sea, unlike the Sea of Galilee to the north, does not figure prominently in the biblical narratives. Its most important role was as a barrier, blocking traffic to Judah from the east. An advancing army of Ammonites and Moabites apparently crossed a shallow part of the Dead Sea on their way to attack King Jehoshaphat (2 Chron 20). Ezekiel has prophesied that one day the Dead Sea will be fresh water and fishermen will spread their nets along the shore. The Dead Sea is located in the Syro-African Rift, a 4000-mile fault line in the earth's crust. The lowest point of dry land on earth is the shoreline of the Dead Sea at 1300 feet below sea level. That the lake is at the lowest point means that water does not drain from this lake. Daily 7 million tons of water evaporate but the minerals remain, causing the salt content to increase. Figures for the Dead Sea's salinity today range from 26-35%. Nearly ten times as salty as the world's oceans and twice as saline as the Great Salt Lake in Utah, the Dead Sea is rich with minerals. The Dead Sea Works company on the southwest side of the lake employs 1600 people around the clock to harvest the valuable minerals from the water. Potash is the most valuable of those extracted today and is used in the manufacture of fertilizer. The best article on the minerals in the Dead Sea is in the Encyclopedia Britannica. Healthy Water The unique concentration of the Dead Sea waters has long been known to have medicinal value. Aristotle, Queen of Sheba, King Solomon and Cleopatra were all familiar with this and modern doctors as well often prescribe patients with skin ailments to soak in the waters of the Dead Sea. Because of the dropping level of the Dead Sea, the southern end is no longer under water, except for that which is channeled by aqueducts for the purpose of extracting minerals. |
 Satellite view of the Dead Sea. NASA. |
Sounds kinda creepy, doesn't it? The name 'Dead Sea' is actually a kinder, gentler translation from the Hebrew name 'Yam ha Maved', which means, 'Killer Sea'. It is some of the saltiest water anywhere in the world, almost six times as salty as the ocean! The Dead Sea is completely landlocked and it gets saltier with increasing depth. The surface, fed by the River Jordan, is the least saline. Down to about 130 feet (40 meters), the seawater comprises about 300 grams of salt per kilogram of seawater. That's about ten times the salinity of the oceans. Below 300 feet, though, the sea has 332 grams of salt per kilogram of seawater and is saturated. Salt precipitates out and piles up on the bottom of the sea.
There are no fish or any kind of swimming, squirming creatures living in or near the water. There are, however, several types of bacteria and one type of algea that have adapted to harsh life in the waters of the Dead Sea. What you'll see on the shores of the Sea is white, crystals of salt covering EVERYTHING. And this is no ordinary table salt, either. The salts found in the Dead Sea are mineral salts, just like you find in the oceans of the world, only in extreme concentrations. The water in the Dead Sea is deadly to living things. Fish accidentally swimming into the waters from one of the several freshwater streams that feed the Sea are killed instantly, their bodies quickly coated with a preserving layer of salt crystals and then tossed onto shore by the wind and waves. Brutal!
The
guy to the left is actually floating in the Dead Sea. "But, hey,
I thought you said the Dead Sea was DEADLY!" Not to us. Humans
are remarkably adaptable. We can swim in the Dead Sea, just like
we can swim in the ocean. Well, people don't really "swim" in the
Dead Sea - they just "hang out". That's what's so cool about the
Dead Sea. Because of the extremely high concentration of dissolved
mineral salts in the water its
density
is way more than that of plain old fresh water. What this means
is our bodies are more buoyant
in the Dead Sea - so you bob like a cork. In fact, people are so
buoyant in this water, it makes it kinda tough to actually swim.
Most people like to just kick back in the water and read. It almost
looks as though this guy is sitting on an air mattress that has
sunk below the surface, but he's not. He's really just floating,
without having to hold is feet in that position! If you think this
is easy, try floating like this in a freshwater swimming pool.
What Caused the Dead Sea to Form?
This lesson
takes us back to the subject of plate tectonics. In this part of the
world there is a rift
forming where two crustal plates
are spreading apart. The East Rift Valley runs through most of
Africa, but it starts north of the Dead Sea and runs south along the
eastern side of the continent. The Sea is located right along the
Rift Valley where the earth's crust is
being stretched thin. To get an idea of how this "crustal spreading"
thing works, take a bar of taffy, or taffy-like candy and try to pull
it apart. You'll see where the candy starts to come apart it gets
really thin just before it breaks. That's what is happening to the
earth's crust in the Rift Valley. Where the earth's crust gets thin
that part of the surface sinks downward. Look at the picture at left
to see how the rift forms, sinking downward where the crust is stretched
thin. You know what? The Dead Sea is still sinking lower, even today.
Scientists figure that the Dead Sea lowers by as much as 13 inches
per year. On a geologic time scale that's incredibly fast!
We talked about how the surface of the Sea got down so low in elevation, but why is it so salty? All roads lead to the Sea when it comes to the rivers in the area. The Dead Sea is continually fed water from the rivers and streams coming down off the mountains that surround it. But the kicker is this....no rivers drain out of the Dead Sea. The only way water gets out of the Sea is through evaporation. And boy does it evaporate! This part of the world get plenty hot. When thewater evaporates, it leaves behind all the dissolved minerals in the Sea, just making it saltier. In fact, it's through the dual action of; 1) continuing evaporation and 2) minerals salts carried into the Sea from the local rivers, that makes the Sea so salty. The fact that the water doesn't escape the Sea just traps the salts within its shores. There's nothing living in the Dead Sea because it got so salty, so quickly, that evolution has not had a chance to produce any creatu
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