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About
the Red Sea
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The
Red Sea (ancient Sinus Arabicus) is a relatively young body of water;
geologically it is an extension of the Great Rift Valley and has split
up immediately after the deposition of the early Eocene strata; it
is still rifting to this day.
Covering barely half a million square kilometers with its deepest
point is at 2200 m, it is also a very small sea.
Until the opening of the Suez Canal (1869), the Red Sea was a closed
lake except for a tiny outlet to the Indian Ocean at the Straits of
Bab el Mandab (the "Door of Lamentations" named so by Arab
sailors because of treacherous reefs blocking navigation). |
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Even
though it is now a real passageway linking the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean,
the Red Sea remains very much a closed body of water. The high rate of
evaporation due to all-year-round tropical temperatures has resulted in
a high level of water salinity. This in turn has encouraged the development
of truly endemic species of marine life found nowhere else.
There are many theories attempting to construe where the name Red Sea
came from, most of them seem equally plausible. Some say it is due to
the bright red gorgonian corals that abound on the reef; others claim
the name comes from the reddish volcanic mountains on the shore, and so
forth.
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One
theory, which the author personally supports, is based on a natural
phenomenon that occurs in the winter months. Around sunset when the
wind has calmed down and humidity levels rise, tiny droplets of water
hanging in the air refract the blazing red color of the setting sun.
Everything is bathed in a soft pink haze and the surface of the water
turns a deep blood red. The effect is best experienced from a boat
sailing close to the shore, it is therefore quite possible that sailors
traveling along the coasts in ancient times believed that the sea
really became red then, and named it accordingly. |
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