What is the Dead Sea

• 417 meters (1.373 ft) below sea level, filled with mineral-rich waters and mud.

• Nothing lives in it.

• Some of the saltiest water anywhere in the world , almost six times as salty as the ocean

• Completely landlocked and it gets saltier with increasing depth.

• The surface is the least saline.

• At about 130 feet (40 meters), the seawater comprises about 300 grams of salt per kilogram of seawater.

• Below 300 feet, the sea has 332 grams of salt per kilogram of seawater and is saturated.

• Salt precipitates out and piles up on the bottom of the sea.

What caused the Dead Sea to form?

• A rift formed where two crystal plates are spreading apart.
• The East Rift Valley runs through most of Africa, but it starts north of the Dead Sea and runs south along the eastern part of the continent.
• The sea is located right along the Rift Valley, where the earth's crust is being stretched thin, causing the surface to skin downward.
• Even today, as the Dead Sea continues to skin, scientists calculate that Dead Sea lowers by as much as 13 inches per year.

Why is the Dead Sea so salty?

The Dead Sea is continually fed water from the rivers and streams from the mountains that surround it. No rivers drain out of the Dead Sea- the only way water gets out of the sea is through evaporation. When the water evaporates, it leaves behind all the dissolved minerals, making it saltier.
How Dead Sea Salts work?

The water of the Dead Sea contains 21 minerals including sodium, Magnesium, Calcium, Bromine, Bitumen and Potassium. This is 10 times more salt and minerals than in the Mediterranean sea. Twelve of these minerals are found in no other sea or ocean in the world. They are recognized for their ability to:
• impart a feeling of relaxation
• nourish the skin
• activate the circulatory systems
• ease rheumatic discomfort and metabolic disorders
Sodium:
Sodium ions remove skin scales and improve its permeability. After penetrating the skin, they bind the water and generate a feeling of suppleness. Ideal for very dry skin.
Magnesium:
Essential for cell metabolism. A significant deficit in Magnesium has been discovered in the skin scales and serum of patients with psoriasis. Magnesium reportedly affects the ripening of the skin cells of these patients. Moreover, in cases of bronchi, Magnesium works as an anti-allergic agent. Magnesium concentrations found in the Dead Sea are fifteen times higher than salts in other seas.
Potassium:
Improves the oxidation and regulates the electrical process of the muscles and the nervous system. Asthma patients achieve good results from inhaling the salts vapors.
Bromide:
Bromide concentration in Dead Sea Salts is 50 times higher than common salts, thus contributing to their very relaxing effect.
Iodine:
Necessary for the production of the hormone thyroxin, it is also vital for both energy and cell metabolism.
Calcium:
Necessary in strengthening cell membranes and cleansing the pores. Vital for the production and maintenance of healthy teeth and bones. Regulates heart muscles and nerves.
Bitumen:
Acts as an anti- inflammatory agent. Balances alkaline and acid in the body. Also vital for cell metabolism.
Zinc:
plays a role in enzymatic regulation of cell proliferation .