Sinkholes threaten banks of Dead Sea: Thousands of pits open up as salt lake dries up due to overuse of water

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Sinkholes threaten banks of Dead Sea: Thousands of pits open up as salt lake dries up due to overuse of water

Environmental group estimates there are 3,000 sinkholes beside Dead Sea
It claim that new sink holes are on the banks appearing almost every day
They say the lake is being over exploited causing it to drop by 4 feet a year
Fresh water is being drawn into salt pockets left behind by receding lake
This dissolves the underground salt, causing the earth above to collapse
By RICHARD GRAY FOR MAILONLINE

The banks of the Dead Sea are under threat from soaring numbers of sinkholes that are appearing as the salt lake dries up, an environmental group has warned.

EcoPeace Middle East estimates that there are more than 3,000 sinkholes now along the banks of the salt lake, which is bordered by Israel and Jordan.

Water evaporation from the lake – which is occurring at nearly four feet per year – drawing freshwater into the pockets of salt left behind by the lake.

As the salt dissolves in the fresh water, it causes the earth above it to collapse.

Gidon Bromberg, director of EcoPeace Middle East claims that the appearance of the sinkholes has been accelerating in recent years.
WHY IS THE DEAD SEA DRYING UP?
For thousands of years, the Dead Sea has attracted visitors who come to float in its salty waters and reap its reported health benefits.
But the salt lake’s water elves have fallen from 394 metres below sea level in the 1960s to about 423 meters below sea level at the end of 2012.

As a result, the Sea’s water surface area has been reduced by one third: from roughly 950 square kilometers to 637 square kilometers today.
The water level continues to drop at an alarming pace of 0.8 to 1.2 meters per year.

The significant decline of the water level over the past 30 years is due to diversion of water from the Jordan River and from the Dead Sea itself due to population increase.

The first one appeared in the 1980s, by 1990 there were 40 and by 2005 there were 1,000 holes.

Now, Mr Bromberg says, a new sinkhole is appearing almost every day.
Speaking to ABC News, Mr Bromberg said: ‘These sink holes are a direct result of the inappropriate mismanagement of water resources in the region.

‘They could develop overnight or over time, making them unpredictable and very dangerous.’

Mr Bromberg and his colleagues believe the rate of these sinkholes appearing has been increased by the construction of dams and reservoirs beside the lake.

Water is also pumped from the lake to be evaporated so that minerals such as potash and bromide can be extracted.

Water is also pumped from the lake to help maintain the pools that sit outside the spa hotels that attract tourists from around the world.
Sitting nearly 1,300ft below sea level, the Dead Sea is the lowest inland area in the world and has a salinity of almost 33 per cent….More Here

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Sinkholes threaten banks of Dead Sea: Thousands of pits open up as salt lake dries up due to overuse of water