Jordan - Stormy Morning on Dead Sea Beach | Join me on Faceb… | Flickr Jordan - Stormy Morning on Dead Sea Beach ~~~~~~~~~ The Dead Sea (Hebrew: יָם הַ‏‏מֶ‏ּ‏לַ‏ח‎, Yām Ha-Melaḥ, "Sea of Salt"; Arabic: البَحْر المَيّت‎, al-Baḥr l-Mayyit, "Dead Sea") is a salt lake between Israel and the West Bank to the west, and Jordan to the east. It is 422 metres (1,385 ft) below sea level, and its shores are the lowest point on the surface of the Earth on dry land. The Dead Sea is 378 m (1,240 ft) deep, the deepest hypersaline lake in the world. It is also one of the world's saltiest bodies of water, with 33.7 percent salinity.

Only Lake Assal (Djibouti), Garabogazköl and some hypersaline lakes of the McMurdo Dry Valleys in Antarctica (such as Don Juan Pond and perhaps Lake Vanda) have a higher salinity. It is 8.6 times as salty as the ocean. This salinity makes for a harsh environment where animals cannot flourish, hence its name. The Dead Sea is 67 kilometres (42 mi) long and 18 kilometres (11 mi) wide at its widest point. It lies in the Jordan Rift Valley, and its main tributary is the Jordan River. The Dead Sea has attracted visitors from around the Mediterranean basin for thousands of years. Biblically, it was a place of refuge for King David. It was one of the world's first health resorts (for Herod the Great), 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. My trip to Jordan was extremely rewarding with an amazing light and scenes. The weather was bit different than many people imagine Middle East is like.

It was extremely windy and stormy, not the blue sky we all have in mind for place like Jordan. Weather like that didnt allow me to take my long exposures which I was hoping for, however the colors in the sky made up for it. I'd also like to mention that you need significantly strong will to get up early in the morning from that lovely warm bed and to go out to that freezing wind but once you are out there taking photos like these you are happy you've done that. I have of course no chance to float in the Dead Sea this time... Camera Model: Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Lens’s focal length: 17.00 - 40.00 mm, Photo Focal length: 28.00 mm, Aperture: 6.3, Exposure time: 1/80 s, ISO: 100 All rights reserved - Copyright © Lucie Debelkova - All images are exclusive property and may not be copied, downloaded, reproduced, transmitted, manipulated or used in any way without expressed, written permission of the photographer. Done Dead Sea |authorSTREAM ??? ??????????????, Yam Ha-Mela? ???????

????????, al-Ba?r l-Mayyit The Dead Sea Slide 2: The Dead Sea (Hebrew: ??? ??????????????, Yam Ha-Mela?, "Sea of Salt"; Arabic: ??????? ????????, al-Ba?r l-Mayyit, "Dead Sea") is a salt lake between Israel and the West Bank to the west, and Jordan to the east. It is 422 metres (1,385 ft) below sea level,[2] and its shores are the lowest point on the surface of the Earth on dry land. The Dead Sea is 378 m (1,240 ft) deep, the deepest hypersaline lake in the world. It is also one of the world's saltiest bodies of water, with 33.7 percent salinity. Only Lake Assal (Djibouti), Garabogazköl and some hypersaline lakes of the McMurdo Dry Valleys in Antarctica (such as Don Juan Pond and perhaps Lake Vanda) have a higher salinity.

It is 8.6 times saltier than the ocean.[3] This salinity makes for a harsh environment where animals cannot flourish, hence its name. The Dead Sea is 67 kilometres (42 mi) long and 18 kilometres (11 mi) wide at its widest point. It lies in the Jordan Rift Valley, and its main tributary is the Jordan River. Slide 3: A view from Israel looking across to Jordan Slide 4: Salt build-up along the shore Slide 5: Around three million years ago what is now the valley of the Jordan River, Dead Sea, and Wadi Arabah was repeatedly inundated by waters from the Mediterranean Sea. The waters formed in a narrow, crooked bay which was connected to the sea through what is now the Jezreel Valley. The floods of the valley came and went depending on long scale climatic change. The lake that occupied the Dead Sea Rift, named "Lake Sodom", deposited beds of salt, eventually coming to be 3 km (2 miles) thick. According to geological theory, approximately two million years ago the land between the Rift Valley and the Mediterranean Sea rose to such an extent that the ocean could no longer flood the area.

Thus, the long bay became a lake. The first such prehistoric lake is named "Lake Gomorrah." Lake Gomorrah was a freshwater or brackish lake that extended at least 80 km (50 mi) south of the current southern end of the Dead Sea and 100 km (60 mi) north, well above the present Hula Depression. As the climate turned more arid, Lake Gomorrah shrank and became saltier. The large, saltwater predecessor of the Dead Sea is called "Lake Lisan." Slide 6: Pebbles cemented with halite Slide 8: The mineral content of the Dead Sea is very different from that of ocean water. The exact composition of the Dead Sea water varies mainly with season, depth and temperature.

In the early 1980s the concentration of ionic species (in g/kg) of Dead Sea surface water was Cl- (181.4), Br- (4.2), SO42- (0.4), HCO3- (0.2), Ca2+ (14.1), Na+ (32.5), K+ (6.2) and Mg2+ (35.2). The total salinity was 276 g/kg.[9] These results show that w/w% composition of the salt, as anhydrous chlorides, was calcium chloride (CaCl2) 14.4%, potassium chloride (KCl) 4.4%, magnesium chloride (MgCl2) 50.8% and sodium chloride (common salt, NaCl) 30.4%. In comparison, the salt in the water of most oceans and seas is approximately 97% sodium chloride. The concentration of sulfate ions (SO42-) is very low, and the concentration of bromide ions (Br-) is the highest of all waters on Earth. The salt concentration of the Dead Sea fluctuates around 31.5%.

This is unusually high and results in a nominal density of 1.24 kg/L. Anyone can easily float in the Dead Sea because of natural buoyancy. In this respect the Dead Sea is similar to the Great Salt Lake in Utah in the United States. Slide 9: Buoyancy caused by high salinity Slide 10: Salt evaporation pans Slide 11: In Judaism The human history of the Dead Sea goes all the way back to remote antiquity. Just north of the Dead Sea is Jericho. Somewhere, perhaps on the Dead Sea's southeast shore, would be the cities mentioned in the Book of Genesis which were said to have been destroyed in the time of Abraham: Sodom and Gomorra (Genesis 18) and the three other "Cities of the Plain" - Admah, Zeboim and Zoar (Deuteronomy 29:23). Zoar, however, escaped destruction when Abraham's nephew Lot escaped there from Sodom (Genesis 19:21-22).

King David was said to have hidden from Saul at Ein Gedi nearby Slide 13: In Islam In Islamic tradition, the Dead Sea was about the land in which the Prophet Lut (Lot in the Hebrew scriptures) lived. The people of the towns and cities were wicked for their acts of raping men, robbery and murder, and had therefore been given a punishment for such deeds. The punishment arrived when angels in the form of beautiful men were sent down by God as guests for Lut to host. When Lut's people heard of the men, they rushed to Lut's house to misbehave and rape the men. This was their final test which they failed so the angel Gabriel raised the land where the prophet's people lived, tipped it upside down and threw it back on earth, causing the ground near the impact to cave in. Thus, the lowest land on Earth was formed because of this punishment. The non-believers (in the monotheism doctrine) were destroyed and the followers were saved.

According to some interpretations, the sura of ar-Rum of the Quran refers to the Dead Sea as the lowest place on Earth.[13][14] aStakhfouroulah hil alli el athem Bedouin tribes have continuously lived in this area, and more recently explorers and scientists arrived to analyze the minerals and conduct research into the unique climate. Tourism in the region has been developed since the 1960s. Slide 14: My Wife & I at the Dead Sea In Israel On Our Honeymoon - YouTube My Wife & I at the Dead Sea In Israel On Our Honeymoon Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later.

Uploaded on Feb 27, 2009 The Dead Sea (Hebrew: יָם הַ‏‏מֶ‏ּ‏לַ‏ח‎, Yām Ha-Melaḥ, "Sea of Salt"; Arabic: البَحْر المَيّت‎, al-Baḥr l-Mayyit, "Dead Sea") is a salt lake between Israel and the West Bank to the west, and Jordan to the east. It is 422 metres (1,385 ft) below sea level,[2] and its shores are the lowest point on the surface of the Earth on dry land. The Dead Sea is 378 m (1,240 ft) deep, the deepest hypersaline lake in the world. It is also one of the world's saltiest bodies of water, with 33.7 percent salinity. Only Lake Assal (Djibouti), Garabogazköl and some hypersaline lakes of the McMurdo Dry Valleys in Antarctica (such as Don Juan Pond and perhaps Lake Vanda) have a higher salinity.

It is 8.6 times as salty as the ocean.[3] This salinity makes for a harsh environment where animals cannot flourish, hence its name. The Dead Sea is 67 kilometres (42 mi) long and 18 kilometres (11 mi) wide at its widest point. It lies in the Jordan Rift Valley, and its main tributary is the Jordan River. The Dead Sea has attracted visitors from around the Mediterranean basin for thousands of years. Biblically, it was a place of refuge for King David. It was one of the world's first health resorts (for Herod the Great), 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. Category New 7 Wonders of Nature-Dead Sea Dead Sea Caves [1] The Dead Sea ("Sea of Salt") is a salt lake in Jordan to the east and in the West Bank and Israel to the west.

Its surface and shores are 422 metres (1,385 ft) below sea level,[3] the lowest elevation on the Earth's surface on dry land. The Dead Sea is 378 m (1,240 ft) deep, the deepest hypersaline lake in the world. It is also one of the world's saltiest bodies of water, with 33.7% salinity. Only Lake Assal (Djibouti), Garabogazköl and some hypersaline lakes of the McMurdo Dry Valleys in Antarctica (such as Don Juan Pond and perhaps Lake Vanda) have a higher salinity. It is 8.6 times as salty as the ocean.[4] This salinity makes for a harsh environment where animals cannot flourish, hence its name. The Dead Sea is 67 kilometres (42 mi) long and 18 kilometres (11 mi) wide at its widest point. It lies in the Jordan Rift Valley, and its main tributary is the Jordan River. The Dead Sea has attracted visitors from around the Mediterranean basin for thousands of years. Biblically, it was a place of refuge for King David.

It was one of the world's first health resorts (for Herod the Great), 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. Natural history There are two contending hypotheses about the origin of the low elevation of the Dead Sea. The older hypothesis is that it lies in a true rift zone, an extension of the Red Sea Rift, or even of the Great Rift Valley of eastern Africa. A more recent hypothesis is that the Dead Sea basin is a consequence of a "step-over" discontinuity along the Dead Sea Transform, creating extension of the crust with consequent subsidence. Around three million years ago what is now the valley of the Jordan River, Dead Sea, and Wadi Arabah was repeatedly inundated by waters from the Mediterranean Sea. The waters formed in a narrow, crooked bay which was connected to the sea through what is now the Jezreel Valley. The floods of the valley came and went depending on long scale climate change.

The lake that occupied the Dead Sea Rift, named "Lake Sodom", deposited beds of salt, eventually coming to be 3 km (2 miles) thick. According to geological theory, approximately two million years ago the land between the Rift Valley and the Mediterranean Sea rose to such an extent that the ocean could no longer flood the area. Thus, the long bay became a lake. The first such prehistoric lake is named "Lake Gomorrah." Lake Gomorrah was a freshwater or brackish lake that extended at least 80 km (50 mi) south of the current southern end of the Dead Sea and 100 km (60 mi) north, well above the present Hula Depression. As the climate became more arid, Lake Gomorrah shrank and became saltier. The large, saltwater predecessor of the Dead Sea is called "Lake Lisan." . Pebbles cemented with halite on the western shore of the Dead Sea near Ein Gedi.In prehistoric times great amounts of sediment collected on the floor of Lake Gomorrah.

The sediment was heavier than the salt deposits and squeezed the salt deposits upwards into what are now the Lisan Peninsula and Mount Sodom (on the southwest side of the lake). Geologists explain the effect in terms of a bucket of mud into which a large flat stone is placed, forcing the mud to creep up the sides of the pail. When the floor of the Dead Sea dropped further due to tectonic forces, the salt mounts of Lisan and Mount Sodom stayed in place as high cliffs. (see salt domes) From 70 000 to 12 000 years ago the lake level was 100 m (328 ft) to 250 m (820 ft) higher than its current level. This lake, called "Lake Lisan", fluctuated dramatically, rising to its highest level around 26,000 years ago, indicating very wet climate in the Near East. Sometime around 10 000 years ago the lake level dropped dramatically, probably to levels even lower than today. During the last several thousand years the lake has fluctuated approximately 400 m (1,310 ft) with some significant drops and rises.

Current theories as to the cause of this dramatic drop in levels rule out volcanic activity, therefore it may have been a seismic event. [2] In between Israel and Jordan lies the lowest place on earth, otherwise known as the Dead Sea. This body of water has its own unique and spectacular atmosphere. Although its extremely salty waters do not allow for aquatic life to survive, the Dead Sea has been a natural health mecca for thousands of years. Photos: Dead Sea, Jordan. Treatment, rest The Salt It is evident that grows shallow sea: near the water salt deposits still quite clean The Dead Sea, also called the Salt Sea, is a salt lake bordering Jordan to the east, and Israel to the west. Its surface and shores are 422 metres (1,385 ft) below sea level, the lowest elevation on the Earth's surface on dry land. It is one of the world's saltiest bodies of water, with 33.7% salinity. It is 8.6 times more salty than the ocean. In the Bible, the Dead Sea is called the Salt Sea, the Sea of the Arabah, and the Eastern Sea.

The designation пїЅDead SeaпїЅ is a modern name which never appears in the Bible. The sea is called "dead" because its high salinity prevents macroscopic aquatic organisms, such as fish and aquatic plants, from living in it, though minuscule quantities of bacteria and microbial fungi are present. The Dead Sea. The beach in Jordan The Dead Sea was one of the world's first health resorts (for Herod the Great), 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. The Jordan River is the only major water source flowing into the Dead Sea, although there are small perennial springs. There are no outlet streams. The Dead Sea's climate offers year-round sunny skies and dry air. A summer average temperatures range between 32 and 39 пїЅC (90 and 102 пїЅF). Winter - between 20 and 23 пїЅC (68 and 73 пїЅF).

Sufferers of the skin disorder psoriasis also benefit from the ability to sunbathe for long periods in the area due to its position below sea level and subsequent result that many of the sun's harmful UV rays are reduced. The Dead Sea area has become a major center for health research and treatment for several reasons. The mineral content of the water, the very low content of pollens and other allergens in the atmosphere, the reduced ultraviolet component of solar radiation, and the higher atmospheric pressure at this great depth each have specific health effects. For example, persons suffering reduced respiratory function from diseases such as cystic fibrosis seem to benefit from the increased atmospheric pressure Thus, the region's climate and low elevation have made it a popular center for several types of therapies: * Climatotherapy: Treatment which exploits local climatic features such as temperature, humidity, sunshine, barometric pressure and special atmospheric constituents * Heliotherapy: Treatment that exploits the biological effects of the sun's radiation * Thalassotherapy: Treatment that exploits bathing in Dead Sea water the unique spa treatments, healing mud, salt and the sea water. The mineral content of the Dead Sea is very different from that of ocean water.

The exact composition of the Dead Sea water varies mainly with season, depth and temperature. In the early 1980s, the concentration of ionic species (in g/kg) of Dead Sea surface water was Cl− (181.4), Br− (4.2), SO42− (0.4), HCO3− (0.2), Ca2+ (14.1), Na+ (32.5), K+ (6.2) and Mg2+ (35.2). The total salinity was 276 g/kg.[9] These results show that w/w% composition of the salt, as anhydrous chlorides, was calcium chloride (CaCl2) 14.4%, potassium chloride (KCl) 4.4%, magnesium chloride (MgCl2) 50.8% and sodium chloride (common salt, NaCl) 30.4%. In comparison, the salt in the water of most oceans and seas is approximately 97% sodium chloride.

The concentration of sulfate ions (SO42−) is very low, and the concentration of bromide ions (Br−) is the highest of all waters on Earth. The sea itself is abundant in minerals acclaimed to have therapeutic value. ----------- Anyone can easily float in the Dead Sea because of natural buoyancy. In this respect the Dead Sea is similar to the Great Salt Lake in Utah in the United States. Many animal species live in the mountains surrounding the Dead Sea. Hikers can see camels, ibex, hares, hyraxes, jackals, foxes, and even leopards. Hundreds of bird species inhabit the zone as well. Both Jordan and Israel have established nature reserves around the Dead Sea. In recent decades, the Dead Sea has been rapidly shrinking because of diversion of incoming water from the Jordan River to the north. The southern end is fed by a canal maintained by the Dead Sea Works, a company that converts the sea's raw materials.

From a depression of 395 m (1,296 ft) below sea level in 1970[20] it fell 22 m (72 ft) to 418 m (1,371 ft) below sea level in 2006, reaching a drop rate of 1 m (3 ft) per year. As the water level decreases, the characteristics of the Sea and surrounding region may substantially change.* Surprising storm in Kalia Beach Dead Sea, Israel - YouTube Surprising storm in Kalia Beach Dead Sea, Israel Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Published on Mar 17, 2012 Zahi Shaked A tour guide in Israel and his camera. +972 54 6905522 "Dead Sea" , "Sea of Salt", also called the Salt Sea, is a salt lake bordering Jordan to the east, and Israel and the West Bank to the west.

Its surface and shores are 422 metres (1,385 ft) below sea level,[2] the lowest elevation on the Earth's surface on dry land. The Dead Sea is 378 m (1,240 ft) deep, the deepest hypersaline lake in the world. It is also one of the world's saltiest bodies of water, with 33.7% salinity. Only Lake Assal (Djibouti), Garabogazköl and some hypersaline lakes of the McMurdo Dry Valleys in Antarctica (such as Don Juan Pond) have a higher salinity. It is 8.6 times more salty than the ocean.[4] This salinity makes for a harsh environment where animals cannot flourish, hence its name. The Dead Sea is 67 kilometres (42 mi) long and 18 kilometres (11 mi) wide at its widest point. It lies in the Jordan Rift Valley, and its main tributary is the Jordan River. The Dead Sea has attracted visitors from around the Mediterranean basin for thousands of years. Biblically, it was a place of refuge for King David.

It was one of the world's first health resorts (for Herod the Great), 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 sea has a density of 1.24kg/L, making swimming difficult.The Dead Sea is an endorheic lake located in the Jordan Rift Valley, a geographic feature formed by the Dead Sea Transform (DST). This left lateral-moving transform fault lies along the tectonic plate boundary between the African Plate and the Arabian Plate. It runs between the East Anatolian Fault zone in Turkey and the northern end of the Red Sea Rift offshore of the southern tip of Sinai. 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, creating pools and quicksand pits along the edges.[7] There are no outlet streams.

Rainfall is scarcely 100 mm (3.9 in) per year in the northern part of the Dead Sea and barely 50 mm (2.0 in) in the southern part. The Dead Sea zone's aridity is due to the rainshadow effect of the Judean Hills. The highlands east of the Dead Sea receive more rainfall than the Dead Sea itself. To the west of the Dead Sea, the Judean Hills rise less steeply and are much lower than the mountains to the east. Along the southwestern side of the lake is a 210 m (690 ft) tall halite formation called "Mount Sodom".There are two contending hypotheses about the origin of the low elevation of the Dead Sea. The older hypothesis is that it lies in a true rift zone, an extension of the Red Sea Rift, or even of the Great Rift Valley of eastern Africa. A more recent hypothesis is that the Dead Sea basin is a consequence of a "step-over" discontinuity along the Dead Sea Transform, creating extension of the crust with consequent subsidence.

Around three million years ago, what is now the valley of the Jordan River, Dead Sea, and Wadi Arabah was repeatedly inundated by waters from the Mediterranean Sea. The waters formed in a narrow, crooked bay which was connected to the sea through what is now the Jezreel Valley. The floods of the valley came and went depending on long scale climate change. The lake that occupied the Dead Sea Rift, named "Lake Sodom", deposited beds of salt, eventually coming to be 3 km (1.9 mi) thick. Approximately two million years ago, the land between the Rift Valley and the Mediterranean Sea rose to such an extent that the ocean could no longer flood the area. Thus, the long bay became a lake.Masada (Hebrew מצדה, pronounced Metzada (help•info), from מצודה, metzuda, "fortress") is the name for a site of ancient palaces and fortifications in the South District of Israel on top of an isolated rock plateau, or horst, on the eastern edge of the Judean Desert overlooking the Dead Sea.

After the First Jewish-Roman War a siege of the fortress by troops of the Roman Empire led to the mass suicide of the Sicarii rebels, who preferred death to surrender. It is located about 20 km east of Arad Category Lowest Land Points Below Sea Level Map | Depression Elevations By David K. Lynch, Thule Scientific Each pushpin on the map above marks the lowest point in one of Earth's ten structural depressions with the lowest land elevations. Use the controls in the upper left corner of the map to zoom in for a closer look. You can change from satellite images to maps with the controls in the upper right corner. Thanks to Google for letting us use their services to make this fun map and to Brad Cole for creating it! Introduction: Dozens of land areas of the Earth sit below current sea level. The ten with the lowest elevations are listed below, along with a Google Map showing their locations. The lowest land area is the shoreline of the Dead Sea Depression and the largest below-sea-level depression by surface area is the Caspian Depression. A total of 33 countries have land below sea level. What Causes Most Below-Sea-Level Depressions?

Most major depressions are associated with tectonic plate boundaries. They form when converging plates deform or when spreading centers open. A few are volcanic in origin. Most of these depressions are in the northern hemisphere for a good reason: this is where most of the land is and where most of the plate boundaries occur. Many are found in the vicinity of where the African, Arabian and Eurasian plates meet. Most are found in hot desert regions of the planet where high evaporation rates prevent them from filling with water. A few are found in temperature climes. Many well-populated places in the world are below sea level. About a third of the Netherlands including Schiphol Airport is below sea level. So too are the Jordan River and parts of many coastal cities including New Orleans and Bangkok.

Other regions below sea level are the Enriquillo-Cul de Sac Depression (Hispaniola), Chott Melrhir Depression (Algeria), Sebkhet Shunayn and Sabkhat Ghuzayyil (Libya), Shatt al Gharsah (Tunisia), Lammefjord (Denmark), Sebkha Tah (Morocco), Hachiro-gata (Japan), Sariqarnish Kuli (Uzbekistan), The Fens (UK) and Lake Eyre, Australia. Of the two hundred and fifty five recognized countries or protectorates in the world, 33 have land below sea level . Most of these are only a few meters down. Some below-sea-level depressions are dry, most others have salt lakes. The lakes are undrained, which means water flows in but does not flow out. Since water cannot flow up hill, the lakes cannot empty into the sea like most do and so they accumulate salt as their waters evaporate. Where does the salt originate? Some of it comes from ancient sea floor salt deposits that have been uplifted then weather and release the salt which reaches the depressions via rivers.

Many other rocks weather to yield sodium and chlorine ions that are carried to the lake by rivers. The Sea of Galilee is below sea Level but is a freshwater lake because it drains into the Dead Sea through the Jordan River. Owing to variations in rainfall, evaporation rates, and human water use, most of the lake levels fluctuate from year to year. Some have come and gone in historic times. The present Salton Sea was produced by a canal construction accident in 1905, though the lake has come and gone naturally many times in the last thousand years. The lowest exposed land on Earth is at the Dead Sea shore, at -413 meters. The deepest lake bottom in a below-sea-level depression also belongs to the Dead Sea at -750 meters. Lake Baikal in Russia is at an elevation of 447 meters, but with a maximum depth of 1637 meters, its bottom lies at -1190 meters. The Bentley Subglacial Trench in Antarctica reaches 2555 meters below sea level. It is the lowest point on Earth that is not covered by ocean, although it is covered by ice. The trench is huge, roughly the size of Mexico.

The deepest point on the ocean floors is -10,916 meters in the Mariana Trench. Trenches are the upper most parts of subduction zones and there are dozens of trench locations that are more than 5000 meters below sea level. Strictly speaking, most of the surface of the Earth is below sea level because oceans cover 71 % of the planet. But sea level varies and during the Great Ice Age 18,000 years ago, sea level was 130 meters lower. Today, large areas are under water that during the Great Ice Age were well above sea level. It is also likely that long ago and far into the future, plate tectonics will produce higher mountains and deeper trenches and depressions than we have today. The Dead Sea is located in a deep valley at the transform boundary between the African and Arabia Plates (shown as a black line on the map above). At over 400 meters below sea level, it is the land area with the lowest elevation. The motions of the African and Arabian Plates, combined with the motion of shear-zone faulting has resulted in the formation of the deep Dead Sea Depression. Image by the United States Geological Survey.

Most land that is below sea level is located in an area with a very dry climate. The dry climate offers very little rain and very high evaporation. This excess of evaporation over precipitation prevents the depression from filling with water. The photo above shows salt deposits of the Dead Sea - a product of high evaporation rate. Image copyright by iStockPhoto and Steven Allan. New Orleans is a city below sea level. It is protected from flooding by seawalls and an extensive groundwater pumping system. NASA Landsat image composed by Angela King. The Ten Depressions with the Lowest Dry Land 1) Dead Sea Depression - The lowest point on Earth Elevation: 413 meters below sea level (approximate and fluctuating) Country: Israel, Jordan, Syria Latitude/Longitude: 31°32′N 35°29′E The Dead Sea Depression is an extensive area of land that is below sea level. It contains the Dead Sea, the Sea of Galilee, a portion of the Jordan River, large areas of cultivated land and many communities. The shoreline of the Dead Sea is the lowest dry land on Earth. It is approximately 413 meters below sea level. However, this elevation is constantly changing.

The surface of the Dead Sea rises and falls as precipitation, evaporation, irrigation, salt production and other natural and human activities consume the water of the Jordan River, the Dead Sea and its tributaries. 2) Lake Assal (in the Afar Depression) Elevation: 155 meters below sea level (approximate and fluctuating) Country: Djibouti Latitude/Longitude: 11°39′N 42°25′E The shoreline of Lake Assal is the lowest point in Africa and the second lowest location on Earth. Lake Assal is located in the Afar Depression which is formed at a triple junction of tectonic plates (Indian, African and Arabian). The relative motion of these plates produces a divergence that results in a lowering of Earth's surface. Lake Assal's water emerges from springs which are believed to be fed by groundwater flow from the Gulf of Tadjoura. This water evaporates rapidly because the climate there is one of the hottest and driest on Earth. This high evaporation rate makes Lake Assal the saltiest body of water on Earth.

3) Turfan Depression The View from the Seven Lowest Points on Earth The View from the Seven Lowest Points on Earth The View from the Seven Lowest Points on Earth ADVERTISEMENT There are many places on the planet where you stand on dry land, while the levels of the oceans should mean you are actually submerged. Here we present the views from the lowest points on Earth. 1. THE DEAD SEA – ASIA Photo: Ian and Wendy Sewell The Dead Sea, also called the Salt Sea, borders Israel and the West Bank to the west, and Jordan to the east. Its surface and shores are 422 metres (1,385 ft) below sea level, the lowest elevation on the surface of the planet on dry land. 2.LAKE ASSAL – AFRICA Photo: Fishercd Lake Assal is a crater lake found at Djibouti, Ethiopia. It lies 509 ft below sea level in the Afar depression and its shores comprise the lowest point on land in Africa and the second lowest land depression on Earth after the Dead Sea.

This body of water is considered the saltiest on Earth with 34.8 percent salt concentration, which is higher than that of the Dead Sea, and over ten times as much as is found in the world’s oceans. 3. THE VESTFOLD HILLS – ANTARCTICA Photo: Peter Schuller The Vestfold hills in Antarctica are 164ft below sea level. However, the lowest point on land not covered by liquid water is the floor of the Bentley subglacial Trench in Antarctica at 2,555 m (8,383 ft) below sea level – though it is covered by a thick layer of ice. 4. DEATH VALLEY – NORTH AMERICA Photo: Tahoenathan Death Valley is a desert located in the southwestern USA. Situated within the Mojave Desert, it features the lowest, driest, and hottest locations. Badwater, located within Death Valley, is the specific location of the lowest point in the US at 282 ft below sea level. This point is only 76 miles east of Mount Whitney, the highest point with an elevation of 14,505 feet.

Death Valley also holds the record for the highest reliably reported temperature in the Western Hemisphere, 134°F at Furnace Creek on July 13, 1913 — just short of the world record, 136°F recorded in Libya on September 13, 1922. 5. LAGUNA DEL CARBON – SOUTH AMERICA Photo: Markovacic Laguna del Carbón (Coal Lagoon) is a salt lake in the Great San Julián Depression of Santa Cruz Province in Argentina. At 344 ft below sea level it is the lowest point in both the Western and Southern hemispheres and the seventh lowest point on Earth. 6. CASPIAN SEA – EUROPE Photo: doshancik The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the largest lake in the world or sometimes as a fully-fledged sea. The ancient inhabitants perceived the Caspian as an ocean, probably because of its saltiness and seeming boundlessness. It has a salinity of approximately 1.2 percent, about a third that of most seawater.

It is the largest inland body of water in the world and accounts for 40 to 44 percent of the total part saline waters of the world. The sea is Europe’s lowest point at 92ft below sea level. 7. LAKE EYRE – AUSTRALIA Photo: wiki Lake Eyre (pronounced “air”) is the lowest point in Australia, at approximately 15 m (49 ft) below sea level, and, on the rare occasions that it fills, it is the largest lake in Australia. It is the focal point of the vast Lake Eyer Basinand, and is found some 700 km (435 mi) north of Adelaide. It may not be obvious from these photographs, but in every case where one of these was taken, the oceans in the world were at least 90ft higher than the spots where the cameramen stood. Gives you food for thought, doesn’t it?

ALL INFORMATION IN THIS STORY GAINED FROM WIKIPEDIA ADVERTISEMENT Drilling for knowledge at bottom of Dead Sea - SFGate Drilling for knowledge at bottom of Dead Sea ISRAEL Published 4:00 am, Sunday, December 5, 2010 Photo: Sebastian Scheiner, AP Close Image 1 of 2 A drilling rig is seen in the Dead Sea, Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2010. Scientists in Israel are drilling into the murky depths of the Dead Sea in hopes of unearthing scientific treasures found in 500,000 years worth of mud and sediment. The unique setting of theDead Sea, the lowest place on earth at 422 meters (1,385 feet) below sea level, should present researchers with distinctly stratified sedimentation that may answer scientific questions ranging from geology to archaeology and could lead to new insight into climate change. less A drilling rig is seen in the Dead Sea, Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2010. Scientists in Israel are drilling into the murky depths of the Dead Sea in hopes of unearthing scientific treasures found in 500,000 years worth ...

more Photo: Sebastian Scheiner, AP Image 2 of 2 A scientist displays layers of sediment drilled from the bottom of the Dead Sea on a drilling rig, Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2010. Scientists in Israel are drilling into the murky depths of the Dead Sea in hopes of unearthing scientific treasures found in 500,000years worth of mud and sediment. The unique setting of the Dead Sea, the lowest place on earth at 422 meters (1,385 feet) below sea level, should present researchers with distinctly stratified sedimentation that may answer scientific questions ranging from geology to archaeology and could lead to new insight into climate change. less A scientist displays layers of sediment drilled from the bottom of the Dead Sea on a drilling rig, Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2010. Scientists in Israel are drilling into the murky depths of the Dead Sea in hopes of ...

more Photo: Sebastian Scheiner, AP Drilling for knowledge at bottom of Dead Sea 1 / 2 Back to Gallery Scientists in Israel are drilling into the murky depths of the Dead Sea in hopes of unearthing scientific treasures hidden in 500,000 years worth of mud and sediment. The unique setting of the Dead Sea - the lowest place on Earth at 1,385 feet below sea level - should present researchers with distinctly stratified sedimentation that may answer scientific questions in fields ranging from geology to archaeology and could lead to new insight into climate change. Researchers say the core that will be pulled out from 1,640 feet below the seabed could open the door to years of research as every stratum could inspire a new hypothesis. "It's like reading a book," said Ulrich Harms , a German scientist who heads the International Continental Drilling Program, a major funder of the project. "It's a perfect archive of droughts and floods, of changing climate over a long time span." The project is the brainchild of two Israeli scientists who believed that drilling deep into the crust under the Dead Sea could expose information that other research on its banks did not reveal.

About 10 years ago, Zvi Ben-Avraham and Mordechai Stein appealed to the Germany-based drilling program, which organizes scientific drilling around the world. The program's approval of the Israeli scientists' request came only this year, after it was delayed in part because of the Israeli-Palestinian fighting of the first half of the decade. In a sign of how the relationship between the two sides has thawed since, Palestinians as well as Jordanian researchers are participating in the project. Dead Sea research is one of the few spheres in which Palestinians and Israelis work together. "They want to cooperate with us because they see this as an important project and science knows no boundaries," said Michael Lazar , a professor of marine geosciences at the University of Haifa and the project's manager. The Dead Sea is unique not only for the partnerships it has created and its low altitude. Unlike most other lakes, only one river, the Jordan, runs through it and none pour out of it, meaning the sedimentary buildup over millions of years has largely remained intact. That will allow scientists to take a look at the mud and sediment core that will be drilled out of the earth, date it and determine what type of climate dominated during which period.

The mud is marked by lighter and darker layers, the former a remnant from a dry period, the latter from flooding. This historical record could present new insight on climate change. "We will be able to know if 368,494 years ago was a rainy year or not, or if there was an earthquake," said Ben-Avraham, who has been researching the Dead Sea for more than 30 years. Where the sediment layers don't line up, there was probably an earthquake. Beyond new knowledge this may provide seismologists, archaeologists studying biblical temblors will be able to match up their findings with the timeline presented by the broken lines of the Dead Sea core. Anthropologists researching the migrations of early man - many of whom are believed to have passed through the Dead Sea basin area - could find new information to support theories. The project may also help scientists learn about the fluctuating levels of the Dead Sea. The lake has shrunk significantly in the past few decades, mostly because of increased water extraction from the Jordan River by Israeli, Palestinian and Jordanian sources. The $2.5 million, 40-day project is being conducted by about 40 scientists and in cooperation with partners from six countries.

The drill, which travels around the world conducting scientific operations, can penetrate through 5,000 feet. The scientists are only gathering 1,640 feet worth because they expect to hit a layer of thick salt at that level that will slow the process. Workers will drill in two daily 12-hour shifts, removing the core bit by bit in cylinders that are 10 feet long with a 5-inch diameter. Another parallel hole will be drilled nearby to account for any layers that may have been accidentally detached from the first hole. These will then be shipped to the University of Bremen in Germany, where they will be refrigerated and prepared for study. Before the drilling, the scientists, many of whom have devoted their careers to studying the Dead Sea, felt great anticipation at what lies beneath. "You don't have any other place in the world with such a high-resolution record," said Lazar, anxious from initial technical hiccups. "This is the lowest place on Earth and we're going lower." Latest from the SFGATE homepage: Click below for the top news from around the Bay Area and beyond. Sign up for our newsletters to be the first to learn about breaking news and more.

Go to 'Sign In' and 'Manage Profile' at the top of the page.

Question: What sea between Israel and Jordan is 1,385 feet (422 metres) below sea level?
Answer: Dead Sea