Red Sea salinity
Topic: Oceans: Hydrological Cycle, Relief of the Ocean Floor, Temperature and Salinity · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 12 "Water (Oceans)"
Meaning
The Red Sea is one of the saltiest seas in the world. Its salinity (the amount of salt dissolved in seawater) reaches up to 41 parts per thousand (‰), against an ocean average of about 35‰. Four things cause this: the sun is hot, the air is dry, almost no rivers flow in and very little rain falls. Evaporation removes water but leaves the salt behind. Salty water from the Red Sea also flows into the Arabian Sea and helps make it saltier than the Bay of Bengal.
Example
The Red Sea is a long, narrow sea between north-east Africa (Egypt, Sudan, Eritrea) and the Arabian Peninsula (Saudi Arabia, Yemen). It is almost closed off by land. Its only link to the Indian Ocean is the narrow Bab-el-Mandeb strait in the south.
Don't confuse with
- Dead Sea salinity: the Dead Sea is a landlocked salt lake, not a sea joined to the ocean. It is far saltier (NCERT: 238‰).
Related concepts
- Horizontal distribution of salinity
- Baltic Sea
- Mediterranean Sea salinity
- Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea salinity
- Halocline