Descending To The Dead Sea

By Author: Adam Anders
Total Articles: 41
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The Dead Sea is a hypersaline body of water lying in the Jordan Valley, on the border between Jordan, Israel, and the Westbank. Incidentally, if you want to know where the occupied territory called the Westbank got its name from, it came from its position on the western banks of the Jordan River. The Jordan River is the main source of water flowing into the Dead Sea from north to south, down into the lowest point on Earth.

The Dead Sea gets its name from the fact that its extremely high salinity makes it impossible for any organism to survive in its waters. The high concentration of salt results from evaporation caused by the area's extreme heat, aided by the fact that the Dead Sea is endorheic. Endorheic means that it has no outlet for its water, except through evaoration. Its chief water source is the Jordan River which flows from north to south into the Dead Sea, but the Jordan River's volume has been decreasing, which means less water entering the Dead Sea, but the water keeps evaporating. The Dead Sea's water level has dropped quite a lot over the last century, creating a drained landscape of salt flats at the southern ...
... end of the lake.

The sea's incredible salt concentration along with the residue left behind by evaporation allow the tourist to experience something other-worldly, like a scene out of a sci fi film. The salt flats are reminiscent of the moon's landscape, while the high salinity of the water allows swimmers to float and feel that they are defying gravity. The extremely high salinity of the water (8.6 times as salty as the ocean!) make it more dense than your body, so it is impossible for you to sink. But all visitors have fun trying to make themselves sink! Something swimmers need to know is that the Dead Sea's water will make your eyes really sting if it enters them, so you need to prevent water from splashing your eyes. If you do get the salt water in your eyes, you will probably need to enlist the help of another person to wash out your eyes with fresh water. The water's salt will also penetrate every little crevice or cut on your entire body. If you have shaving cuts, if you bite your nails, if you stubbed your toe, you will be made very aware of it when you enter the water. But that's part of the fun, and the water will help to help all those little problems.

The water's high mineral concentration also makes the mud around the perimeter of the lake full of healthy healing minerals. An integral part of any Dead Sea experience is to lather your entire body with black mud and benefit from its healing minerals. The water itself also contains the same minerals, so even a dip it the lake itself has health benefits.

The Dead Sea is a highlight of any trip to the Middle East, and is one of those special travel experiences you will always remember.
See a Middle East political map at Free Printable Maps.