Dead_Sea

 

The Dead Sea, known as the Salt Sea by the Arabs, is a unique location in the world. This is a salt lake that is part of the Red Sea, half of its western shore belongs to Israel and half of its eastern shore belongs to Palestine. After the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, the West Bank has been occupied by Israeli settlements. The Dead Sea is fed by the Jordan River that flows into it.

The water level of the Dead Sea is below the sea level, and due to the careless use of this sea water by Israel and Jordan over several decades of the 20th century, the water level was further lowered by 400 meters. This water level continues to drop by 3 meters per year. The Dead Sea lies between the Judean Mountains to the west and the Transjordanian Plateau to the east. Before the water level dropped, this water table was about 80 km long and 18 km wide and spread over an area of 1020 square km.

The lake on the Al Lizan Peninsula is unusually divided into two basins, with the northern basin accounting for three-quarters of the lake's total land area. That is 400 meters. The southern basin is small and about 3 meters deep. In the biblical eras and AD It is said that during the 8th century, settlements existed only in the areas around the northern basin.

In the early 20th century and the late 21st century, the lake's water level dropped and the physical appearance of the Mala Sea changed. The most notable change that occurred after that was the eastward expansion of the Al Lizan Peninsula. The northern and southern basins of the lake were then separated by a strip of dry land. Eventually, the southern basin was used for large evaporation ponds for salt production.

About 2.5 million years ago, sediments such as shell, clay, sand, stone, rock, salt, and gypsum were deposited on the lake bed that came with the flowing water and then turned into layers of clay, marl, soft chalk, and gypsum and gravel.

Al Lizan and Mount Sedom are the result of earth movements and eruptions. Another consequence of the low water level in the Mala Sea is the sinking of the southwestern part of the region. As the water in the lake receded, the water level on the surface rose and the caves with underground salt mines in the excessive salt layer were dispersed.

The Dead Sea is located in a desert area. Hence little rainfall is received and that too is irregular. This place receives mm annually. A rainfall of 65 Due to the location of the lake at a very low altitude, the temperature decreases during winter, but it shows a maximum temperature of 51 degrees Celsius in summer. M per year Mr. Due to the evaporation of the water volume of the lake, which is calculated as 1500, it is a common sight to see water films like mist above the lake.

Atmospheric humidity in the rivers around the Dead Sea varies from 45% in May to 62% in October. During the spring season, an unsustainable flow of water from the Jordan River flows into the Dead Sea and the water in the river was diverted, which caused the water level of the Dead Sea to drop. To the east of the Jordan, four tributaries join the Dead Sea: Al Uimah, Saraqa Man, Al Mawjib, and Al Asa.

The water in the Dead Sea is extremely salty and the salinity level increases as you go deeper into the lake. Due to that phenomenon, two water masses were created in the lake and lasted for about 3 decades until the late 1970s. This water contains concentrations of hydrogen, magnesium, potassium, chlorine and bromine. Deep water combines with sodium chloride and deep water undergoes fossilization. In 1960, the volume of water flowing from the Jordan decreased and the salt concentration of the Dead Sea increased.

Due to the high salinity of the lake, animals other than bacteria cannot live here. Plants usually grow along river banks and on the banks of lakes, while plants growing on salty or alkaline soils (halophytes) are found near lakes.

It is a common sight for tourists to see large salt deposits near the southwest coast. Since then, there has been a small salt industry here, and in 1929, a potash factory was established in Jordan. This was the first factory and it was destroyed in 1948 during the Arab Israel War. Then, in 1955, a plant producing potash, magnesium, calcium, and chloride was built at Sedom, the mineral extraction evaporation ponds in the southern part of the lake are supplied with water through artificial canals created in the northern basin.

(excerpt)