Dead Sea

Dead Sea
A view of the sea from the Jordanian shore with the hills of the West Bank in the background
Location of the Dead Sea
Location of the Dead Sea
Dead Sea
LocationWestern Asia
Coordinates31°30′N 35°30′E / 31.500°N 35.500°E / 31.500; 35.500
Lake typeEndorheic
Hypersaline
Primary inflowsJordan River
Primary outflowsNone
Catchment area41,650 km2 (16,080 sq mi)
Basin countriesJordan, Palestine (Israeli-occupied West Bank), Israel
Max. length50 km (31 mi)[1] (northern basin only)
Max. width15 km (9.3 mi)
Surface area605 km2 (234 sq mi) (2016)[2]
Average depth188.4 m (618 ft)[3]
Max. depth298 m (978 ft) (elevation of deepest point, 728 m (2,388 ft) BSL [below sea level], minus current surface elevation)
Water volume114 km3 (27 cu mi)[3]
Shore length1135 km (84 mi)
Surface elevation−430.5 m (−1,412 ft) (2016)[4]
References[3][4]
1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure.
Short video about the Dead Sea from the Israeli News Company

The Dead Sea (Arabic: اَلْبَحْر الْمَيِّت, romanized: al-Baḥr al-Mayyit, or اَلْبَحْر الْمَيْت, al-Baḥr al-Mayt; Hebrew: יַם הַמֶּלַח, romanized: Yam hamMelaḥ), also known by other names, is a landlocked salt lake bordered by Jordan to the east, the Israeli-occupied West Bank to the west and Israel to the southwest.[5][6] It lies in the Jordan Rift Valley, and its main tributary is the Jordan River.

As of 2019, the lake's surface is 430.5 metres (1,412 ft) below sea level,[4][7] making its shores the lowest land-based elevation on Earth. It is 304 m (997 ft) deep, the deepest hypersaline lake in the world. With a salinity of 342 g/kg, or 34.2% (in 2011), it is one of the world's saltiest bodies of water[8] – 9.6 times as salty as the ocean – and has a density of 1.24 kg/litre, which makes swimming similar to floating.[9][10] This salinity makes for a harsh environment in which plants and animals cannot flourish, hence its name. The Dead Sea's main, northern basin is 50 kilometres (31 mi) long and 15 kilometres (9 mi) wide at its widest point.[1]

The Dead Sea has attracted visitors from around the Mediterranean Basin for thousands of years. It was one of the world's first health resorts, and it has been the supplier of a wide variety of products, from asphalt for Egyptian mummification to potash for fertilisers. Today, tourists visit the sea on its Israeli, Jordanian and West Bank coastlines.

The Dead Sea is receding at a swift rate; its surface area today is 605 km2 (234 sq mi), having been 1,050 km2 (410 sq mi) in 1930. Multiple canal and pipeline proposals, such as the scrapped Red Sea–Dead Sea Water Conveyance project,[11] have been made to reduce its recession.

  1. ^ a b "Virtual Israel Experience: The Dead Sea". Jewish Virtual Library. Archived from the original on 15 January 2013. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
  2. ^ "The Dead Sea Is Dying Fast: Is It Too Late to Save It, or Was It Always a Lost Cause?". Haaretz. 7 October 2016. Archived from the original on 22 December 2016.
  3. ^ a b c Dead Sea Data Summary 2015 Archived 2015-02-21 at archive.today.Water Authority of Israel.
    "Red Sea - Dead Sea Water Conveyance Study Program". The World Bank Group. 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-09-15.
  4. ^ a b c "Long-Term changes in the Dead Sea". Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research - Israel Marine Data Center (ISRAMAR). Archived from the original on 2018-11-06. Retrieved 2014-05-31.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference DSC1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference DSC2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ "Israel and Jordan Sign 'Historic' $900 Million Deal to Save the Dead Sea". Newsweek. 2015-02-27. Archived from the original on 2020-11-24. Retrieved 2015-03-18.
  8. ^ Goetz, P. W., ed. (1986). "Dead Sea". The New Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 3 (15th ed.). Chicago. p. 937.{{cite encyclopedia}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  9. ^ R W McColl, ed. (2005). Encyclopedia of world geography. Facts on File. p. 237. ISBN 978-0-8160-7229-3. Archived from the original on 2023-10-30. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
  10. ^ "Dead Sea - Composition of Dead Sea Water". Archived from the original on 2013-11-04.
  11. ^ "5 alliances shortlisted to execute Red-Dead's phase I". The Jordan Times. 27 November 2016. Archived from the original on 29 November 2016. Retrieved 3 December 2016.