Why is the dead sea so salty?
Usually all rivers lead to the open sea, but the Dead Sea is continually fed water from the rivers and streams coming down off the mountains that surround it, but no rivers drain out of the Dead Sea. The only way water gets out of the Sea is through evaporation. The climate is very hot in this part of the world, and when the water evaporates it leaves behind all the dissolved minerals in the Sea, just making it saltier. In fact, it’s through the dual action of; 1) continuing evaporation and 2) minerals salts carried into the Sea from the local rivers, that makes the Sea so salty. The fact that the water doesn’t escape the Sea just traps the salts within its shores. There’s nothing living in the Dead Sea because the salt content has increased so quickly, that it has overtaken evolution, so no creatures have had the chance of adapting to such brutal conditions. The Dead Sea lies at the bottom of the Syrian – African Rift Valley, about 400 meters (1280 feet) below sea level. Known in Bibl
