New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-04-15
SCIENCE gOR THE PEOPLE.
PALESTINE AND THE DEAD SEA.

An interesting description of the geology of
,be HOLY Land, and particularly of the deep de-
nressiOn of the valley of the Jordan and the
bead Sea, was recently given by Professor L.
Hull in Dublin. The fundamental basis of the
geological formation of Palestine Is the gneiS-
Sic granite of Archaan age and metamorphic
origin which rises into the mountains of
Idnmpa, ana is the rock from which the huge
mon0lths OF Egypt have been hewn, such as
Cleonatra's Needle the obelisk of Luxor, and
the columns winch adorn the Piazza of Venice.
This foundation rock formed part of contl-
mental area down to the CarboniferOus period,
when it was submerged and a great sandstone
formation was spread over 1T known as tle
Nubian sandstone After another interval or
time the sandstone itself was overSpTeaa Dy
limestone deposits Of Cretace0us ana !ertiary
age, deposited over the floor OF the ancient sta,
and down to the close of the Eocene peIlou INC
waters of the sea OyerspIeau tie SIc"toi Po :
tions of Asia Minor, Palestine and the adJoin-
mo districts OF the Asiatic and African CONT
nents. 4ho ,d
Joining districts as land surface dates from
tbe succeeding MOcene period, when the pea OIL
tbe sea was appraised into dry land, and at the
same period a great assure corresponding WIFE
the line of the jordan valley was produced.
Along this iSsure, which has been traced i, rom
the Lebanon southwark toward the Guii Oh
Akaba-tne strata on the eastern Cor MoaOlte)
side have been relatively elevated those on
the western relatively depressedIso tllaC Sno
strata OH the opposite sides OF the JOIuan NalIey
and the Dead Sea do not correspond WIN eacn
nther This great fssure is the key TO the phys
zeal formation of the whole region, because III
cnva origin 10 a river which once flowed down
from the mountains or Lenanon.souteIdhi '
Bnrk6ardt)-into the Red Sea in a remarkably
straight line running north and south Tor dis
lance of over $50 miles. This is now the joy
ian. The depression of the valley continuing
through the succeeding Ph0cene epoch, the
district of the Ghor and the Jordan valley was
conveyed intO q lake, which Professor Hull
considered ultimately extended from the south
ern end of the Dead Sea nOrthward nearly to
the Lake MerOm, and Included the Sea OF CAL
lice. This lake would then have had length
IF 100 miles and an average breadth OF ten
During "the Pluvial period" which sue
ceeded "the Glacial" the waters probably
reached their maximum elevation, and contlE-
ned to flow southwark through the Gorge of
Arabian and the Gulf Of Akaba into the Red
Sea 4; but from the increasing dryness OF the
climate they gradually decreased, and the sur
face Of the lake became contracted: and uiti-
mately reduced to its existing limits During this
lowering of the surface, the remarkable ter
races noticed by most travellers were formed.
Dr. Trisuam has taken the barometric level OF
several of these above the Dead Sea. Ihey
range up to 80 feet, and even higher. They
appear to be undoubtedly old lake margins,
and indicate the successive levels at which the
lake stood The 75O-fOOt terrace very closely
corresponds to the summit-level OF the Gorge
of Arabah. When the waters were reduced 50
low as not to pass through the Gorge of Arabah
they became brackish and ultimately salt-the
salinity increasing as the area became dimin-
ished The saline ingredients i'll the surface
waters of the Dead Sea are 24.51 pounds IN
100 pounds of the water, while that OF the At
iantic only contains 6 pounds in the same qnan-
tity. The Dead Sea water is therefore over
four times as strongly impregnated with salts
ps that of the ocean, and il the deeper waters
the saliDity amounts to saturatiou, as saline de,
posits are forming over the floor of the Dead
Sea This remarkable inland sea had assumed
susnewhat OF its present contracted dimen-
sions, aud was known as the Salt Sea-" as far
back as the time of the Patriarch Abraham.
Near Its borders stood the doomed cities of
Sodom ard GomO1rah-not beneath its waters,
as was often supposed-but near its upper
margin,