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Tour of Israel: Dead Sea
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The Dead Sea is a salt lake bounded on the west by Israel and on the east by Jordan.
The surface of the Dead Sea is at 400 m (1312 ft) below sea level, making
it the lowest water surface on earth. The lake is 76 km (47 mi) long and has a
maximum width of about 16 km (about 10 mi).
The Dead Sea is fed mainly from
the north by the Jordan River, but several smaller streams also run into the Dead
Sea primarily from the east. The lake has no outlet. Fresh water evaporates quickly
from the sea due to the hot desert climate leaving behind a sea which is seven
times as salty as the ocean.
It is called the Dead Sea because the high concentration
of salt makes it impossible for life of any sort, except for a few kinds of microbes,
to live. Sea fish put into the Dead Sea soon die.
At a depth of 305 m (1000
ft), the Dead Sea contains approximately 27 percent solid substances: sodium chloride
(common salt), magnesium chloride, calcium chloride, potassium chloride, magnesium
bromide, and many other substances. People can easily float on the surface of
the Dead Sea due to the density of solids in the water.
Chemical products
such as potash, bromine, gypsum, and salt are extracted inexpensively from the
Dead Sea making the lake economically valuable. In addition, the shores of the
Dead Sea are of growing importance as a winter health resort.
As with so many
other sites in Israel, the Dead Sea has ties to biblical history. The sites of
the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah are believed to lie beneath the lake.
Information from the Israeli Ministry of Tourism and Microsoft's Encarta '95.
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