Day 20 - The Red Sea Rift 31°20'N 35°30'E

I arrived in Israel yesterday, where I was greeted by my close friend David. He showed me around the city; the temples, the beaches, Masada, and the Ba'hai Gardens. Everything was so beautiful, but I needed to rest for my long road trip tomorrow.

We set off very early in the morning, and David drove as I slept for most of the time. When I awoke, David told me that we were fifteen minutes outside of the Dead Sea, and peaking my head out the window, I caught a glimpse of it. I was spectacular, unlike any body of water I had ever seen. The water was crystal clear, and the banks of the river shone white with salt.

Red Sea Rift - http://www.geology.ohio-state.edu

We arrived at the Dead Sea Spa, and after a mineral bath we were on a truck heading for the beach. The truck cluttered over the ground as everyone waiting anxiously in their bright bathing suits. When the truck arrived, I ran down a wooden platform until I was face to face with the ocean. The ground beneath my feet was hard as rock; it was all salt! The salinity of the Dead Sea is so high, that no animals inhabit it, and people just float without swimming!

Although I was tempted, I didn't go into the water. I was hear on account of science, not fun.

I came to the Dead Sea because it is the start of the Red Sea Rift. The Red Sea Rift runs from Israel all the way down through the Dead Sea, through the Gulf of Aqaba, and down through the Red Sea with East Africa on the left and Saudia Arabia to the right. A tectonic rift is a divergent boundary, where two lithospheric plates are moving apart. These divergent boundaries lie along the ocean floor and are deep valleys at the center of a mid-ocean ridge. Through a process called sea-floor spreading, magma forces its way up through cracks (rifts) along the valley. The molten rock cools, and hardens into a new oceanic crust. The older crust moves away from the ridge. 

Divergent Boundary - http://ked-guillen.blogspot.com/

The result of Divergent Boundaries include volcanic activity and earthquake activity. The latest report of volcanic activity in the Red Sea Rift occurred on December 19, 2011, when an eruption went off in the Red Sea.