Dead Sea is a saltwater lake in southwestern Asia. Its shore, which lies about 1,411 feet (430 meters) below sea level, is the lowest place on the surface of Earth. The Dead Sea is the saltiest body of water in the world. It is about nine times as salty as the ocean. The lake lies at the mouth of the Jordan River and borders Israel, Jordan, and the West Bank.
The salty waters of the Dead Sea appear smooth and sparkling. Rocky and barren land surrounds the lake, and steep, brightly colored cliffs rise above its eastern and western banks. The lake is called the Dead Sea because few plants and no fish live in its waters. Little plant life grows in the salty soil around the Dead Sea.
The Dead Sea lies in the Ghor, a deep fault (break in Earth’s outer shell, along which rock has moved). The lake covers about 400 square miles (1,040 square kilometers). It is 11 miles (18 kilometers) wide at its widest point and about 50 miles (80 kilometers) long.
A peninsula called Al Lisan juts into the Dead Sea from its eastern shore and divides the lake into a large northern basin and a smaller southern basin. The lake’s deepest part is in the northern basin. In this area, the lake bottom lies 984 feet (300 meters) below the surface and about 2,395 feet (730 meters) below sea level.
The region gets less than 4 inches (100 millimeters) of rain annually. The Jordan River and several streams pour relatively fresh water into the lake. The fresh water mixes with salty water at the surface. But extreme heat in the area causes this water to evaporate rapidly. Thus, the Dead Sea never grows less salty. The high salt content of the water provides great buoyancy, enabling swimmers to float with ease. Since the 1940’s, water usage along the Jordan River has steadily increased, causing the water level of the Dead Sea to slowly fall.
The Dead Sea contains large quantities of minerals, including common salt (sodium chloride), bromine, calcium chloride, and potassium chloride. An Israeli company called the Dead Sea Works extracts the minerals from the water for use in making such products as table salt, fertilizer, and drugs.
At the southern end of the lake, a network of dikes forms shallow pools that cover over 40 square miles (100 square kilometers). These pools evaporate and leave behind mineral solids, which are then refined by the Dead Sea Works. Some people believe bathing in the Dead Sea is healthful because of its high mineral content. Several area health resorts provide facilities for bathers.
The Dead Sea was probably formed millions of years ago when the Arabian Peninsula and the African continent shifted and formed the Great Rift Valley (see Great Rift Valley). The Bible mentions the Dead Sea (Genesis 14:3). The King James Version of the Bible refers to it as the salt sea. The ancient cities of Sodom and Gomorrah supposedly stood near the lake (see Sodom and Gomorrah).
Columns of salt rock on the shore of the Dead Sea may have been the basis for the Biblical story of Lot’s wife (see Lot). Lot’s wife was turned into a pillar of salt as punishment for disobedience to God (Genesis 19:26). Ancient manuscripts known as the Dead Sea Scrolls were found in caves near the Dead Sea. These scrolls date from as early as the 200’s B.C. (see Dead Sea Scrolls).
