The Dead Sea Rift Valley

Lowest place on earth, 414 meters below sea level.

Water are so salty that one can float over the water.

Border between israel and jordan is passing just in the middle of the lake, continuing along the Jordan river.

The Jordan River Valley, the Dead Sea, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Red Sea lie within the northern arm of a triple tectonic rift system. This is a region of the upper 40km or so of the Earth's solid shell which is splitting apart over a period of millions of years. The Gulf of Aden and the East African Rift Valley comprise the other two arms. And it is through the dynamic motion of these tectonic plates and the actions of pressure and time that we enjoy the crude oil accumulated in many of the folded and broken layers of ancient earth below us. Thus is the apparently solid surface of the Earth like a sea into which one may dip no oar, and it may be said that all linked causes in the chains of life must surely be linked ultimately to the hand and oar of Providence. JGM Dec 2006

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