Dead Sea Research Could Uncover Geological Secrets of Earth's Past – HEALTH & SCIENCE



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Dead Sea Research Could Reveal Geological Secrets of the Earth's Past

The Dead Sea photographed by Leonid Padrul.
(photo credit: LEONID PADRUL)

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The American Geophysical Union has released a new study that explains why salt crystals accumulate on the Dead Sea floor. The results of these discoveries could help scientists understand the importance of salt deposits in the past.

The Dead Sea is known to be the lowest land point in the world and one of the most salty water masses in the world. The lake is nearly 10 times saltier than the average oceans.

Researchers have been questioning for a long time about how warm, salty water, less dense at the top of the lake, "snow" up to the lake bottom, where the water is denser and more cold. This scenario apparently defies the law of physics, where something less dense falls in a denser area.

"Initially, you train those little fingers too small to be observed … but they interact quickly with each other and form larger and larger structures," said Raphael Ouillon, a mechanical engineer at the University of Toronto. California to Santa Barbara. and lead author of the new study.

Scientists have suggested that when waves and movements disturb the lake, some of the hot water enters and mixes with fresh water. While the hot water dissipates quickly and cools, some of the salt precipitates. This salt then forms crystals and sinks to the bottom.

The study used a computer simulation to confirm their suspicions: this movement in the water causes a slow accumulation of salt and creates "salt fingers" at the bottom of the lake.

"We know that many places in the world have a thick layer of salt in the earth's crust and that their thickness can reach one kilometer," said Eckart Meiburg, another senior researcher. "But we do not know how these salt deposits were generated during the geological history."

An example is the Strait of Gibraltar, which was closed and later dried up, leaving thick deposits of salt. On the basis of this study of the Dead Sea, researchers believe that salt has reached the bottom of the lake in the same way.

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