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Red Sea

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: General Geography

   Location of the Red Sea
   Enlarge
   Location of the Red Sea

   The Red Sea is an inlet of the Indian Ocean between Africa and Asia.
   The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb
   sound and the Gulf of Aden. In the north are the Sinai Peninsula, the
   Gulf of Aqaba or the Gulf of Eilat and the Gulf of Suez (leading to the
   Suez Canal).

   Occupying a part of the Great Rift Valley, the Red Sea has a surface
   area of roughly 174,000 square miles (450,000 km²): being roughly 1,200
   miles (1,900 km) long and, at its widest point, over 190 miles (300 km)
   wide. It has a maximum depth of 8,200 feet (2,500 m) in the central
   median trench and an average depth of 1,640 feet (500 m), but there are
   also extensive shallow shelves, noted for their marine life and corals.
   The sea is the habitat of over 1,000 invertebrate species and 200 soft
   and hard corals and is the world's most northern tropical sea.

   The Red Sea is regarded as one of the most saline water bodies in the
   world that is governed by the effects of the water circulation pattern,
   resulting from evaporation and wind stress in the Red Sea. Salinity
   ranges between 36 and 38 ‰.

Name

   Red Sea is a direct translation of the Latin Mare Erythraeum, Arabic
   Al-Baḥr Al-Aḥmar (البحر الأحمر), and Tigrinya Qeyḥ bāḥrī (ቀይሕ ባሕሪ).

   The name of the sea does not indicate the color of the water, because
   it is not red in colour. It may signify the seasonal blooms of the
   red-colored cyanobacteria Trichodesmium erythraeum near the water
   surface. Some suggest that it refers to the mineral-rich red mountains
   nearby which are called Harei Edom (הרי אדום). Edom, meaning "ruddy
   complexion", is also an alternative Hebrew name for the red-faced
   biblical character Esau (brother of Jacob), and the nation descended
   from him, the Edomites, which in turn provides yet another possible
   origin for Red Sea.

   There is also speculation that the name Red Sea came from a
   mistranslation of what should have been Reed Sea in the Biblical
   account of the Exodus.

   Another hypothesis is that the name comes from the Himarites, a local
   group whose own name means red.

   Yet another theory favored by some modern scholars is the name red is
   referring to the direction south, the same way the Black Sea's name may
   refer to north. The basis of this theory is that some Asiatic languages
   used colour words to refer to the cardinal directions.

   A final theory suggests that it was named so because because it borders
   the Egyptian Desert which the ancient Egyptians called the Dashret or
   "red land"; therefore it would have been the sea of the red land.

History

   The Egyptians were the first to attempt a mission of exploration in the
   Red Sea. In the Bible, the story of The Exodus tells how Moses, the son
   of a slave woman, leads the Israelites across its headwaters,
   (presumably the Reed Sea which has since disappeared because of the
   Suez Canal water diversion) to freedom, by using the powers of God to
   part the waters. However, it was a Greek sailor, Hippalus, who
   conferred an international dimension upon the Red Sea in his manifesto
   on the voyage of the Eritrea Sea and thus opened it up to an immense
   and exclusive trade with Asia. It was only from the 15th century
   onwards that Europe began to show interest in this area. In 1798,
   France charged General Bonaparte with invading Egypt and capturing the
   Red Sea. Although he failed in his mission, the engineer J.B. Lepere,
   who took part in it revitalised the plan for a canal which had been
   envisaged during the reign of the Pharaohs. The Suez Canal was opened
   in November 1869. At the time, the British, French, and Italians shared
   the trading posts. The posts were gradually dismantled following the
   First World War. After the Second World War, the Americans and Soviets
   exerted their influence whilst the volume of oil tanker traffic
   intensified. However, the Six Day War culminated in the closure of the
   Suez Canal from 1967 to 1975. Still today, in spite of patrols by the
   major maritime fleets in the waters of the Red Sea, the Suez Canal has
   never recovered its supremacy over the Cape route, which is believed to
   be less vulnerable.

Oceanography

   The Red Sea lies between arid land, desert and semi-desert. The main
   reasons for the better development of reef systems along the Red Sea is
   because of its greater depths and an efficient water circulation
   pattern, The Red Sea water mass exchanges its water with the Arabian
   Sea, Indian Ocean via the Gulf of Aden. These physical factors reduce
   the effect of high salinity caused by evaporation and cold water in the
   north and relatively hot water in the south.

   Climate: The climate of the Red Sea is the result of two distinct
   monsoon seasons; a northeasterly monsoon and a southwesterly monsoon.
   Monsoon winds occur because of the differential heating between the
   land surface and sea. Very high surface temperatures coupled with high
   salinities makes this one of the hottest and saltiest bodies of
   seawater in the world. The average surface water temperature of the Red
   Sea during the summer is about 26°C in the north and 30°C in the south,
   with only about 2°C variation during the winter months. The overall
   average water temperature is 22°C. The rainfall over the Red Sea and
   its coasts is extremely low averaging 0.06 m per year; the rain is
   mostly in the form of showers of short spells often associated with
   thunderstorms and occasionally with dust storms. The scarcity of
   rainfall and no major source of fresh water to the Red Sea result in
   the excess evaporation as high as 205 cm per yr and high salinity with
   minimal seasonal variation.

   Salinity: The Red Sea is regarded as one of the most saline water
   bodies in the world that is governed by the effects of the water
   circulation pattern, resulting from evaporation and wind stress in the
   Red Sea. Salinity ranges between 36 and 38 ‰.

   Tidal range: In general tide ranges between 0.6 m in the north, near
   the mouth of the Gulf of Suez and 0.9 m in the south near the Gulf of
   Aden but it fluctuates between 0.20 and 0.30 m away from the nodal
   point. The central Red Sea (Jeddah area) is therefore almost tideless,
   and as such the annual water level changes are more significant.
   Because of the small tidal range the water during high tide inundates
   the coastal sabkhas as a thin sheet of water up to a few hundred meters
   rather than inundating the sabkhas through a network of channels.
   However, south of Jeddah in the Shoiaba area the water from the lagoon
   may cover the adjoining sabkhas as far as 3 km whereas, north of Jeddah
   in the Al-kharrar area the sabkhas are covered by a thin sheet of water
   as far as 2 km. The prevailing north and northeastern winds influence
   the movement of water in the coastal inlets to the adjacent sabkhas,
   especially during storms. Winter mean sea level is 0.5 m higher than in
   summer. Tidal velocities passing through constrictions caused by reefs,
   sand bars and low islands commonly exceed 1-2 m per sec.

   Current: In the Red Sea detailed current data is lacking, partially
   because they are weak and variable both spatially and temporally.
   Temporal and spatial currents variation is as low as 0.5 m and are
   governed mostly by wind. In summer NW winds drive surface water south
   for about four months at a velocity of 15-20 cm per sec., whereas in
   winter the flow is reversed resulting in the inflow of water from the
   Gulf of Aden into the Red Sea. The net value of the latter
   predominates, resulting in an overall drift to the northern end of the
   Red Sea. Generally the velocity of the tidal current is between 50-60
   cm per sec with a maximum of 1 m per sec. at the mouth of the
   al-Kharrar Lagoon. However, the range of north-northeast current along
   the Saudi coast is 8-29 cm per sec.

   Wind Regime: With the exception of the northern part of the Red Sea,
   which is dominated by persistent north-west winds, with speeds ranging
   between 7 and 12 km per hr., the rest of the Red Sea and the Gulf of
   Aden are subjected to the influence of regular and seasonally
   reversible winds. The wind regime is characterized by both seasonal and
   regional variations in speed and direction with average speed generally
   increasing northward.

   Wind is the driving force in the Red Sea for transporting the material
   either as suspension or as bedload. Wind induced currents play an
   important role in the Red Sea in initiating the process of resuspension
   of bottom sediments and transfer of materials from sites of dumping to
   sites of burial in quiescent environment of deposition. Wind generated
   current measurement is therefore important in order to determine the
   sediment dispersal pattern and its role in the erosion and accretion of
   the coastal rock exposure and the submerged coral beds.

Geology

   Dust storm over the Red Sea
   Enlarge
   Dust storm over the Red Sea

   The Red Sea formed by Arabia splitting from Africa due to continental
   drift. This split started in the Eocene and accelerated during the
   Oligocene. The sea is still widening and it is considered that the sea
   will become an ocean in time (as proposed in the model of Tuzo Wilson).

   Sometimes during the Tertiary period the Bab el Mandeb closed and the
   Red Sea evaporated to an empty hot dry salt-floored sink. Effects
   causing this would be:-
     * A "race" between the Red Sea widening and Perim Island erupting
       filling the Bab el Mandeb with lava.
     * The lowering of world sea level during the Ice Ages due to much
       water being locked up in the ice caps.

   Today surface water temperatures remain relatively constant at 70–77 °F
   (21–25 °C) and temperature and visibility remain good to around 660
   feet (200 m), but the sea is known for its strong winds and tricky
   local currents.

   In terms of salinity, the Red Sea is greater than the world average,
   approximately 4 percent. This is due to several factors: 1) high rate
   of evaporation and very little precipitation, 2) a lack of significant
   rivers or streams draining into the sea, and 3) limited connection with
   the Indian Ocean (and its lower water salinity).

Desalination Plants

   The Red Sea water is an essential asset. There is extensive demand of
   desalinated water to meet the requirement of the population and the
   industries along the Red Sea.

   There are at least 18 desalination plants along the Red Sea coast of
   Saudi Arabia which discharge warm brine and treatment
   chemicals(chlorine and anti-scalants) that may cause bleaching and
   mortality of corals and diseases to the fish stocks. Although this is
   only a localized phenomenon, it may intensify with time and have a
   profound impact on the fishing industry.

   The water from the Red Sea is also utilized by oil refineries and
   cement factories for cooling purposes. Used water drained back into the
   coastal zones may cause harm to the nearshore environment of the Red
   Sea.

Facts and Figures at a Glance

          + Length: ~1900 km - 79 % of the eastern Red Sea with numerous
            coastal inlets

          + Maximum Width: ~ 306 – 354 km – Massawa (Eritrea)
          + Minimum Width: ~ 26 – 29 km -Strait Bab al Mandeb (Yemen)
          + Average Width: ~ 280 km
          + Average Depth: ~ 490 m
          + Maximum Depth: ~2850 m
          + Total surface Area: 438 x 103- 450 x 103 km²
          + Volume: 215 x 103 –251 x 103 km³

          + Approximately 40 % of the Red Sea is quite shallow (under 100
            m) whereas about 25 % of the Red Sea is under 50 m deep. About
            15 % of the Red Sea is over 1000 m depth that forms the deep
            axial trough.
          + Shelf breaks are marked by coral reefs
          + Continental slope has an irregular profile (series of steps
            down to ~500 m)
          + Centre of Red Sea has a narrow trough (~ 1000 m; some deeps
            may exceed 2500 m)

Some of the Research cruises in the Red Sea

   Numerous research cruises have been conducted

          + Arabia Felix (1761-1767)
          + Vitiaz (1886-1889)
          + Valdivia (1898-1894)
          + Pola (1897-98) Southern Red Sea and (1895/96 – Northern Red
            Sea
          + Ammiraglio Magnaghi (1923/24)
          + Snellius (1929 –1930)
          + Mabahiss (1933-1934 and 1934-1935)
          + Albatross (1948)
          + Manihine (1849 and 1952)
          + Calypso (1955)
          + Atlantis and Vema (1958)
          + Xarifa (1961)
          + Meteor (1961)
          + Glomar Challenger (1971)
          + Sonne 1997
          + Meteor 1999

Tourism

   The sea is known for its spectacular dive sites such as Ras Mohammed,
   SS Thistlegorm (ship wreck), Elphinstone, The Brothers and Rocky Island
   in Egypt, Dolphin Reef in Eilat Israel and less known sites in Sudan
   such as Sanganeb, Abington, Angarosh and Shaab Rumi (see photo above).

   The Red Sea was "discovered" as a diving destination by Hans Hass in
   the 1950s, and by Jacques-Yves Cousteau later. Popular tourist resorts
   include Sharm-El-Sheikh and Hurghada (and recently Marsa Alam) in
   Egypt, as well as Eilat, Israel in an area known as the Red Sea
   Riviera.

Bordering countries

   Bordering countries are:
     * Northern shore:
          + Egypt
          + Israel
          + Jordan
     * Western shore:
          + Sudan
          + Egypt
     * Eastern shore:
          + Saudi Arabia
          + Yemen
     * Southern shore:
          + Somalia
          + Djibouti
          + Eritrea

Towns and cities

   Towns and cities on the Red Sea coast include:
     * Aqaba العقبة ,
     * Arkiko ሕርጊጎ,
     * Assab ዓሳብ,
     * Dahabدهب ,
     * Eilat אילת ,
     * Hala'ib حلايب ,
     * Al Hudaydah الحديدة,
     * Hurghada الغردقة,
     * Jeddahجدة ,
     * Marsa Alamمرسى علم ,
     * Massawa ምጽዋ,
     * Nuweiba نويبع ,
     * Port Safaga ميناء سفاجا ,
     * Port Sudan بورت سودان ,
     * Sharm el Sheikh شرم الشيخ ,
     * Suakin سواكن,
     * El Suweis السويس ,
     * Taba الطور,
     * El-Tor الطور

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