Dead Sea

The Dead Sea is a natural object, undoubtedly phenomenal.

Of course, it’s not a sea or a lake, and it’s not that big in area. But the lowest place on Earth (the level of brine (I dare not call it water) is as much as 423 meters below sea level and continues to decline, sometimes by 1 meter per year.

Despite its modest size (the other shore is clearly visible), the depths in the Dead Sea in some places are even up to 370 meters). It’s scary to imagine - all together more than half a kilometer, one and a half kilometers lower than the Ostankino Tower! And what will happen if, for some reason, sea waters break into this funnel, into this giant crack in the earth’s crust!

But I remember, back when I was studying at school in the 80s, it was only 395 meters below sea level...

The shallowing and drying out is associated, of course, with the almost complete consumption of water from the Jordan River and Lake Galilee for water intake and irrigation for Israel and Palestine.

As a "retaliatory measure", Palestinian cities dump sewage into the lake. But it doesn’t help - the sea continues to dry up before our eyes, which threatens not only the disappearance of resorts and therapeutic mud, but a specific environmental disaster. Sinkholes have already become more frequent along its banks, so it is not possible to build the same resorts in all places. They say that Israel and Jordan are now developing a joint project to transfer water from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea.

The content of minerals in the brine reaches 33% (for comparison, in the Black Sea - 2%, in the Mediterranean - 4%, in the Red Sea - about 5%). The mineralogical composition of Dead Sea salt differs significantly from the composition of salt from other seas. It contains about 50.8% magnesium chloride, 14.4% calcium chloride, 30.4% table salt and 4.4% potassium chloride.

Salt contains few sulfates, but relatively many bromides. This allowed the Dead Sea to turn into a unique healing resort. In addition to salts, the Dead Sea is known for its healing mud, which is extracted from the bottom of this lake. The famous silt sulfide mud of the Dead Sea is highly mineralized (up to 300 g/l), with a high content of bromine, iodine, and hormone-like substances.

On the shores of the Dead Sea in ancient times there were the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah (the same ones), and now - not only resorts, but also one of the oldest kibbutzim in Israel, Ein Gedi, where they grow everything (from mangoes to potatoes), but especially dates. It is in this kibbutz that there is a factory where cosmetics are made from the mud of the Dead Sea.

Of course, you can’t swim in the Dead Sea - if even a drop gets into your eye, you can easily be left without an eye. And a drop will definitely fall if you swim on your stomach, because the brine pushes out, and it is impossible to drown, but movements in a viscous liquid will be awkward if you are not used to it. Therefore, tourists and holidaymakers either lie in very shallow water, or walk backwards into the sea, sitting in the lotus position, moving with careful movements of the palms (it pushes upward in this position as well).

Cafe and gas station on the northern shore of the sea