Question

What is the salinity of the Dead Sea?

Answer 1

Hint: Salinity is the amount of salt dissolved in any water body. It is the salinity of lakes, rivers, seas and oceans that determines what kind of organisms would thrive in it.

Complete answer:
The Dead Sea is a salt lake surrounded by Jordan and Israel and it lies in the Jordan Rift Valley. The main tributary of this lake is the Jordan River. This sea has been attracting visitors from around the world and the Mediterranean Basin for thousands of years; including King Herod of Judea during 70 – 1 B.C.

The Dead Sea is the saltiest water body on earth and is also the deepest hypersaline lake in the world. It is 9.6 times more saline than ocean water. Its salinity is measured to be 342 g/kg. Due to the extreme amount of salt present in this water, its density is as high as 1.24 kg/liter. This makes swimming more like floating on water.

Such a high amount of salt is also very unfavourable for flora and fauna to sustain. There are no macro-organisms i.e. fish or plants, in this sea. Hence, it is named ‘The Dead Sea’. A small number of microscopic organisms like bacteria and fungi are surprisingly present here. These organisms can thrive in extremely high salinity and are called halophiles.

Thus, the salinity of the Dead Sea is measured to be 342 g/kg.

Note: In 1930, the Dead Sea had a surface area of 1050 square kilometers. It has now been reduced to 605 square kilometers. A Red Sea-Dead Sea Conveyance pipeline project has been started to provide water from the Red Sea to Jordan, Israel and Palestinian territory and to replenish the Dead Sea with brine.