What makes dead sea unique

And an Israeli filling station has closed because the road around it started to crack, split and collapse. All in all, there are now more than 5, such holes around the shoreline where 40 years ago there were none. This is somewhere where you feel geology is happening in real time.

Where the sea has retreated, the salt crust beneath your feet creaks and crumbles deafeningly as though you're walking over sheets of cracked glass. Dr Baer says geologists are getting better at predicting where sinkholes are going to open - which is important when you consider that there are several busy roads running around the coastline. But the problem's getting worse.

This year, for example, about sinkholes formed, but in previous years the number was lower. In the s it was a few dozen, now it's hundreds. Diagnosing what's wrong with the Dead Sea isn't difficult - it has after all been shrinking for at least years, since those British engineers left their mark in the rock. Deciding what, if anything, should be done about the water level is more complex - a huge scientific and political issue. Geologists make the point that the level of the water in the past has probably been both higher and lower than it is now.

The question is what the costs and benefits of any attempt to "save" the Dead Sea might be - whether that would be to slow the rate of decline or to do something vastly more ambitious and start to raise the level again.

To preserve the unique chemistry of the Dead Sea? And for what purpose - for tourism? If we want to restore the flow of the Jordan river, for example, then Israel would have to desalinate more water and that would cost money and have an environmental impact too. If the Jordan were ever restored, of course, it would be impossible to expect that Palestinian and Jordanian farming communities desperate for water on either bank would simply sit back and let the water flow by in the interests of science.

Salem Abdel Rahman, a Jordanian activist for the Ecopeace Middle East environmental group puts it like this: "We are not talking about saving the Dead Sea because it's nice or not nice. We think that the Dead Sea is a symptom of sickness in the management of water resources. The saving of the Dead Sea will be a good indication that we moved away from sickness to a healthy environment. If the waters of the River Jordan are not to be restored, the likeliest scheme to revitalise the Dead Sea involves constructing a huge pipeline that would bring water across the desert from the Red Sea, far to the south.

Similar ideas have been around for long time - British engineers once contemplated constructing canals to connect the Mediterranean to the Red Sea via the Dead Sea.

It would have provided an alternative to the Suez Canal under British control, but proved impracticable because of the depth at which the Dead Sea lies below sea level. Even by modern engineering standards, the Red-Dead project as it's known would present some formidable technical challenges. Water would have to be desalinated first at the Red Sea salty water would pollute the Dead Sea's unique chemistry.

It would then have to be pumped up to a great height and fed into enormous pipes that would channel the water across the desert to its destination. The extra fresh water would benefit not just Jordan and Israel but the Palestinians too, so the World Bank is keen and the US is likely to provide at least some of the start-up capital.

But the technical, financial and political difficulties are forbidding and the pipeline is unlikely to be built soon, if indeed at all. It's possible, of course, that the countries of the Middle East will find that co-operation impossible - multilateral agreements in this part of the world are rare.

In which case, the Dead Sea will continue to shrink at something like its current rate for years to come, but it won't die. The science of saltiness and saturation means that the Dead Sea will eventually reach a point of equilibrium where it will stop shrinking.

In simple terms, the amount of water in the sea's briny cocktail and the amount of evaporated moisture in the air above it would reach a kind of balance. Several smaller streams also enter the sea, chiefly from the east. The lake has no outlet, and the heavy inflow of fresh water is carried off solely by evaporation, which is rapid in the hot desert climate. Due to large-scale projects by Israel and Jordan to divert water from the Jordan River for irrigation and other water needs, the surface of the Dead Sea has been dropping dangerously for at least the past 50 years.

Environmental groups, led by Friends of the Earth, launched a "Let the Dead Sea Live" campaign in to preserve the lake and its unique environmental qualities. In September Israel and Jordan agreed to construct a km pipeline that would link the Dead Sea with the Gulf of Aqaba, to slow down the process of evaporation of the lake's waters.

If the shrinkage is allowed to continue, it is likely that the Dead Sea might disappear altogether by The Dead Sea is one of the saltiest bodies of water on Earth , with almost 10 times more salt than ordinary seawater.

This is because water flows into the Dead Sea from one main tributary, the River Jordan. It then has no way to get out of the lake and so is forced to evaporate. The soaring hot and dry conditions of this region mean that large quantities of water are evaporated.

This leads to the salt and other minerals becoming more and more concentrated. The high salt and mineral content of the Dead Sea mean that this body of water has powerful healing properties. The Dead Sea is therefore the biggest free spa on Earth, drawing both tourists and locals alike.

Its healing waters have been sought after even since Biblical times. According to legend, Cleopatra also loved the Dead Sea and used its products as part of her beauty regime. Alongside being incredibly salty, the Dead Sea is famous for being the lowest point on Earth. Interesting Facts about the Dead Sea. You see, it's hard to swim in the Dead Sea.

It's like trying to tap dance on ice. Where is the Dead Sea? Fun Facts About the Dead Sea. So how deep is the lake? The lake bed is estimated to be around feet below sea level. And it does not taste good. It may or may not work but it definitely is fun!

It's not actually the saltiest place on earth. Nor even in the top three. Had enough fun facts about the Dead Sea or are you ready for a bonus? Does anyone know any more fascinating facts about the Dead Sea?!

And all this in the name of beauty or perhaps, one suspects, the quest for a good photo. Either way, don't they look gorgeous?! More on Travel in Jordan. Jordanian Food: the 21 dishes you need to know What is it like to visit Petra?

Is Petra at night worth it? The ecolodge where you can spend a night with the Bedouin How the Madaba mosaics show the pathway to peace. It looks fabulous! This in an experience I would love to live! The most dangerous part was tasting it, I think. Vile, vile, vile….