The Dead Sea: Lowest Place on Land

A salty lake in a rift valley, shrinking fast.

The Dead Sea at dawn: salt crystals on the shore and the steep walls of the rift valley.
The Dead Sea at dawn: salt crystals on the shore and the steep walls of the rift valley.
Artist’s interpretation — SI render made for Before Saving Planets; science per cited sources (not a photo).

Born from a fault

The Dead Sea sits in a basin along the Dead Sea Transform, a fault where the Arabian Plate slides past the African (Sinai) Plate. The pull-apart basin let the land sink.

Lowest land on Earth

Its shore is the lowest land elevation on Earth, more than 430 meters (1,400 feet) below sea level — and getting lower.

Almost ten times saltier

With about 34% salt, the water is nearly ten times saltier than the ocean, so people float easily and almost no plants or animals live in it — only hardy microbes.

Shrinking fast

The water level has fallen more than a meter per year in recent decades as river water is diverted and minerals are extracted. Satellites show the southern part split off into evaporation ponds.

Sources

🌍 Shrinking lakes can come back with smart water use. See lake solutions.Lake solutions on Saving Planets →

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