Fredin ScariaArcha Manuel

THE DEAD SEA

Also called the Salt SeaIt is technically a lake at the end of the

Jordan River.  Spanning more than 60 miles through Israel,

the West Bank, and Jordan, it sits 1,388 feet below sea level

The lowest place on the surface of the planet.  

Its waters are salty, not because they are seawater, but because there are no outlets, and untold quantities of minerals, including salt, have been deposited there.

ABOUT THE DEAD SEA

The Dead Sea, in fact, is more than 10 times saltier than the northern Atlantic Ocean, making it unable to support any life other than microbes.

It was one of the world's first health resorts and it has been the supplier of a wide variety of products, from balms for Egyptian mummification to potash for fertilizers.

People also use the salt and the minerals from the Dead Sea to create cosmetics and herbal sachets.

In 2009, 1.2 million foreign tourists visited on the Israeli side.

The Dead Sea seawater has a density of 1.240 kg/L, which makes swimming similar to floating.

An endorheic lake located in the Jordan Rift Valley

The Jordan River is the only major water source flowing into the Dead Sea, although there are small perennial springs under and around the Dead Sea, forming pools and quicksand pits along the edges. There are no outlet streams.

Rainfall is scarcely 100 mm (4 in) per year in the northern part of the Dead Sea and barely 50 mm (2 in) in the southern.

GEOGRAPHY

There are several small communities near the Dead Sea. These include Ein Gedi, Neve Zohar and the Israeli settlements in the Megilot Regional Council: Kalya, Mitzpe Shalem and Avnat

There is a nature preserve at Ein Gedi, and several Dead Sea hotels are located on the southwest end at Ein Bokek near Neve Zohar

Potash City is a small community on the Jordanian side of the Dead Sea, and others inclduing Suweima. 

HUMAN SETTLEMENT

The Dead Sea has fallen more than 20m over the past 40 years. Studies by scientists at the University of Jordan have shown that the sea now drops one metre in depth each year.

The Dead Sea is drying up causing sinkholes

There are now over 3,000 sinkholes around the Dead Sea on the Israeli side 

This compares to 40 in 1990, with the fi rst sinkhole appearing in the 1980s

WHAT HAPPENS TO DEAD SEA NOW?

The Dead Sea spans more than 60 miles through Israel, the West Bank, and Jordan

Its water level has fallen from 394 meters below sea level in the 1960s to about423 meters below sea level as of end 2012

As a result, the Sea’s water surface area has been reduced  by one third: from roughly 950 square kilometers to 637 square kilometers today

The water level continues  to drop at an alarming pace of 0.8 to 1.2 meters per year

WHAT HAPPENS TO DEAD SEA NOW?

ESTIMATES SUGGEST THAT, ON THE ISRAELI SIDE ALONE, THERE ARE NOW OVER 3,000 SINKHOLES AROUND THE DEAD SEA

Sinkholes are basically bowl-shaped features that form when an empty space under the ground creates a depression. 

The depression is the result of a reaction between freshwater and salt buried in a subterranean level beneath the surface.

When the freshwater dissolves the salt, it creates a void, causing the landscape around and above it to suddenly collapse.

What villagers call 'death traps' have been piercing the surrounding grounds of the Dead Sea for the past 20 years, but the phenomena has increased signifi cantly in the past few years as the sea level has declined. Some of the sinkholes are a few metres wide and up to 20m deep.

SINKHOLES

SINKHOLES

Click icon to add picture

SINKHOLES ALONG THE DEAD SEA

 The Dead Sea is drying up, and dropping salt water levels which means there is more fresh water to eat away at the salt.

The signifi cant decline of the water level  over the past 30 years is due to diversion of water from the Jordan River and from the Dead Sea itself due to population increase.

The mineral extraction activities of the Dead Sea Works and the Arab Potash Company operating at the southern end of the Dead Sea have been major players in aff ecting the environmental stability of the region. 

WHAT CAUSES THIS??

Although the problem of the Dead Sea's decline starts at the northern borders of Jordan, villagers at the southern edge of the Dead Sea are bearing the full brunt of the problem.

Farms have been disappearing to sinkholes caused by the shrinking sea. Villagers lost their homes, cattle and their lives. 

Residents were no longer able to move about freely at night for fear that sinkholes might swallow them.

Other incidents included the collapse of the social-security station, homes, restaurants and rest houses.

SOCIAL IMPACTS

Sinkholes have also had a serious economic impact on the region.

Aff ected the tourism industry over there.Less tourists- since going to the sea is very riskyHundreds of millions of dollars have been lost when

construction sites unexpectedly collapse(due to sinkholes)

In one instance, the Jordanian Potash Company, one of the country's largest fi rms, lost an equivalent of US $130 million when one of its dykes collapsed overnight. 

ECONOMIC IMPACTS

If it dies, the Dead Sea will also kill its unique natural habitat.

Although the water is barren of most life, the surrounding ecosystem includes springs that support a surprisingly rich range of flora and fauna. 

Huge oases are disappearing.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS

One solution being presented by the World Bank is to create a canal linking the Dead Sea to either the Red Sea. 

The project is known as the Two Seas Canal, and would be 112 miles (180 km) long. 

The Red-to-Dead canal would cost at least $17 billion.

Opponents of the canal claim that it would damage the integrity of the seawater in the Dead Sea, forever changing its mineral makeup.

PROPOSED SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM

Experts believe more needs to be done to highlight the plight of the Dead Sea and come up with a solution.

For instance to bring the world's attention to the challenge artist Spencer Tunick shot the fi rst mass nude shoot in the Dead Sea in 2011.

Human intervention has just about killed the Dead Sea. It will take extraordinary human measures—careful, wise intervention and positive regional cooperation—to save it now.

http://www.ibiblio.org/expo/deadsea.scrolls.exhibit/article.html

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/moment/2013/09/the_dead_sea_is_dying_how_sinkholes_habitat_destruction_and_low_water_levels.2.html

http://www.irinnews.org/indepthmain.aspx?InDepthId=13&ReportId=61836

http://content.time.com/time/video/player/0,32068,71715312001_2016083,00.html

http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2084164,00.html

http://geography.howstuffworks.com/oceans-and-seas/dead-sea-dead1.htm

REFERNCES

http://www.deadsea-health.org/new_html/general_main.html

http://www.visitjordan.com/Default.aspx?tabid=67http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Seahttp://

www.goisrael.com/Tourism_Eng/Tourist%20Information/Discover%20Israel/Geographic%20Regions/Pages/The%20Dead%20Sea%20General%20Info.aspx

THANK YOU !!