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Dead Sea


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This image shows the northern tip of the Dead Sea.This spot is of stratigraphic interest to us as it happens to be the northern tip of a fault linking to the great African trough belt stretching for 8,000km running from Lake Galilee 100km north of the Daed Sea through the Dead Sea, the Red Sea, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania. Because of this strtigraphic condition, an enormous strain is amassed on the eastern and western coasts, making a huge depression there. Both coasts, therefore form the steep cliffs. The Jordan River is flowing into the nrthern tip, however the amount of inflow is less than lost by evaporartion, so the water level lowers yearly and its salt content is well known as the world's highest. In additin the neighboring area is about 395m below sea level, the lowest in the world due to the continent movement which started 35 million years ago.

The salt density is around 30%, ten times that od seawater, which enables us to eadily float in the water while reading a newspaper. It is richer in minerals than seawater, making it an efficient rremedy for various sorrts of dermatosis and rheumatism, and good for cosmetology. No living things, however can reside there, as the name indicates.

This area has a long history. The bible in the second century B.C. called "The Testment Dead Sea version", was discovered near Qumran in the northern Dead Sea.


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