Sushmajee
Shishu Sansaar | Science

Geography

Home | Shishu Sansaar | Science

41-Dead Sea

Previous | Next

 
41-Dead Sea

You are joking, is there any sea which is dead? No I am not. It is there.
And it is on our Earth? Yes, it is on our own Earth..

There is one Dead Sea located in the Jordan Rift Valley and is over 1300 feet below sea level - the lowest point on the Earth. It is about 1300 feet deep. It is the deepest hyper saline lake on the face of the Earth. It is 42 miles long and 11 miles wide. Even the world's lowest road, Highway 90, also runs here, along the Israeli and West Bank shores of the Dead Sea at about 1,300 feet below sea level. In fact it is not really a sea, it is a lake, but it is so big that it is called Sea, such as there are two other seas, Caspian Sea and Black Sea, on the border of Russia and Europe, which are also lakes but they are also called Sea.

Now why is it called Dead Sea - because nobody can live in that sea.
Why? Because the salt content in its water is almost 37% , 10% more than any other sea water.
It has so much salt that no sea animal, no sea plant can live in it, that is why it is called Dead Sea.

It receives the water from many rivers including River Jordan - that is its main source. It rains there only 4" per year. But once it has received the water, its low lever has no outlet for its water to go out. It stays there. In its east are the Israel mountains and in the west too it has hills of Jerusalem.

Sea of Galilee

Now there is another sea nearby, the Sea of Galilee and it becomes the tale of the two seas. It turns out that the Sea of Galilee is just north of the Dead Sea. Both, the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea receive their water from river Jordan, and yet, they are very, very different -like North Pole and South Pole.

Unlike the Dead Sea, the Sea of Galilee is pretty, resplendent with rich, colorful marine life. There are lots of plants and lots of fish too. In fact, the sea of Galilee is home to over twenty different types of fishes. The same region, the same source of water, and yet while one sea is full of life, the other is dead.

How come? Here might be a possible reason.

The River Jordan flows into the Sea of Galilee and then flows out. The water simply passes through the Sea of Galilee in and then out - and that keeps the Sea or we should say the lake, healthy and vibrant, teeming with marine life. But the Dead Sea is so far below the mean sea level, that it has no outlet. The water flows in from the river Jordan, but does not flow out. There are no outlet streams. It is estimated that over 7 million tons of water evaporate from the Dead Sea every day leaving it saltier than before, too full of minerals and unfit for any marine life. The Dead Sea takes water mainly from the River Jordan, and holds it. It does not give it to anybody. Result? No life at all.

Think about it. Life is not just about getting. Its about giving. We all need to be a bit like the Sea of Galilee. We are fortunate to get wealth, knowledge, love and respect. But if we don't learn to give, we could all end up like the Dead Sea. The love and the respect, the wealth and the knowledge could all evaporate. Like the water in the Dead Sea.

If we get the Dead Sea mentality of merely taking in more water, more money, more everything the results can be disastrous. Good idea to make sure that in the sea of your own life, you have outlets.
>Many outlets. For love and wealth - and everything else that you get in your life. Make sure you don't just get, you give too.

Open the taps. And you'll open the floodgates to happiness.
Make that a habit. To share. To give.
And experience life. Experience the magic!

[Although animals etc cannot live in the sea, but for human beings it is a health resort. People suffering from respiratory diseases, skin disorders etc come here and get relief. Because of high content of salt, its water is so heavy that you can lie down on its water and read a book.]

 

 

Home | Shishu Sansaar | Science

 

Previous | Next

Created by Sushma Gupta on January 15, 2002
Contact:  sushmajee@yahoo.com
Modified on 09/23/13