The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ;
Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari'';
Tigrinya
(; also spelled Tigrigna) is an Ethio-Semitic language commonly spoken Eritrea and in northern Ethiopia's Tigray Region by the Tigrinya and Tigrayan peoples. It is also spoken by the global diaspora of these regions.
History and literatur ...
: ቀይሕ ባሕሪ ''Qeyih Bahri''; ) is a
seawater inlet of the
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by t ...
, lying between
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
and
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...
. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the
Bab el Mandeb strait and the
Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the
Sinai Peninsula
The Sinai Peninsula, or simply Sinai (now usually ) (, , cop, Ⲥⲓⲛⲁ), is a peninsula in Egypt, and the only part of the country located in Asia. It is between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, and is ...
, the
Gulf of Aqaba
The Gulf of Aqaba ( ar, خَلِيجُ ٱلْعَقَبَةِ, Khalīj al-ʿAqabah) or Gulf of Eilat ( he, מפרץ אילת, Mifrátz Eilát) is a large gulf at the northern tip of the Red Sea, east of the Sinai Peninsula and west of the Arabian ...
, and the
Gulf of Suez
The Gulf of Suez ( ar, خليج السويس, khalīǧ as-suwais; formerly , ', "Sea of Calm") is a gulf at the northern end of the Red Sea, to the west of the Sinai Peninsula. Situated to the east of the Sinai Peninsula is the smaller Gulf of ...
(leading to the
Suez Canal). It is underlain by the
Red Sea Rift
The Red Sea Rift is a spreading center between two tectonic plates, the African Plate and the Arabian Plate. It extends from the Dead Sea Transform fault system, and ends at an intersection with the Aden Ridge and the East African Rift, forming ...
, which is part of the
Great Rift Valley
The Great Rift Valley is a series of contiguous geographic trenches, approximately in total length, that runs from Lebanon in Asia to Mozambique in Southeast Africa. While the name continues in some usages, it is rarely used in geology as it ...
.
The Red Sea has a surface area of roughly 438,000 km
2 (169,100 mi
2), is about 2250 km (1398 mi) long, and — at its widest point — 355 km (220.6 mi) wide. It has an average depth of 490 m (1,608 ft), and in the central ''Suakin Trough'' it reaches its maximum depth of .
The Red Sea also has extensive shallow shelves, noted for their marine life and
corals. The sea is the habitat of over 1,000
invertebrate species and 200 types of soft and hard coral. It is the world's northernmost
tropical sea, and has been designated a
Global 200
The Global 200 is the list of ecoregions identified by the World Wide Fund for Nature ( WWF), the global conservation organization, as priorities for conservation. According to WWF, an ecoregion is defined as a "relatively large unit of land or w ...
ecoregion.
Extent
The
International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Red Sea as follows:
::''On the North.'' The Southern limits of the
Gulfs of Suez Ràs_Muhammed_(27°43'N)_to_the_South_point_of_Shadwan.html" ;"title="Ras Muhammad National Park">Ràs Muhammed (27°43'N) to the South point of Shadwan">Ras Muhammad National Park">Ràs Muhammed (27°43'N) to the South point of Shadwan Island (34°02'E) and thence Westward on a parallel (27°27'N) to the coast of
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
] and Gulf of Aqaba, Aqaba [A line running from Ràs al Fasma Southwesterly to Requin Island () through Tiran Island to the Southwest point thereof and thence Westward on a parallel (27°54'N) to the coast of the
Sinai Peninsula
The Sinai Peninsula, or simply Sinai (now usually ) (, , cop, Ⲥⲓⲛⲁ), is a peninsula in Egypt, and the only part of the country located in Asia. It is between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, and is ...
].
::''On the South.'' A line joining
Hisn Murad, Husn Murad () and
Ras Siyyan ().
Exclusive economic zone
Exclusive economic zones in Red Sea:
Note:
Bir Tawil
( arz, بير طويل, translit=Bīr Ṭawīl, lit=tall water well, ) is a area of land along the border between Egypt and Sudan, which is uninhabited and claimed by neither country. When spoken of in association with the neighbouring Halaib ...
disputed between Sudan and Egypt and calculated for both.
Names
''Red Sea'' is a direct translation of the
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
''Erythra Thalassa'' (). The sea itself was once referred to as the
Erythraean Sea by Europeans. As well as ''Mare Rubrum'' in
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
(alternatively ''Sinus Arabicus'', literally "Arabian Gulf"), the Romans called it ''Pontus Herculis'' (Sea of Hercules). Other designations include the ar, البحر الأحمر, Al-Baḥr Al-Aḥmar (alternatively بحر القلزم ''Baḥr Al-Qulzum'', literally "the Sea of
Clysma
Clysma ( el, Κλῦσμα, Κλειυσμα) was an ancient city and bishopric in Egypt. It was located at the head of the Gulf of Suez.
History
Clysma was founded or rebuilt by Emperor Trajan in the second century AD to protect travellers and ...
"), the
Coptic ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ̀ⲛϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ̀nšari'',
Syriac Syriac may refer to:
*Syriac language, an ancient dialect of Middle Aramaic
*Sureth, one of the modern dialects of Syriac spoken in the Nineveh Plains region
* Syriac alphabet
** Syriac (Unicode block)
** Syriac Supplement
* Neo-Aramaic languages a ...
ܝܡܐ ܣܘܡܩܐ Yammāʾ summāqā,
Somali ''Badda cas'' and
Tigrinya
(; also spelled Tigrigna) is an Ethio-Semitic language commonly spoken Eritrea and in northern Ethiopia's Tigray Region by the Tigrinya and Tigrayan peoples. It is also spoken by the global diaspora of these regions.
History and literatur ...
''Qeyyiḥ bāḥrī'' (ቀይሕ ባሕሪ). The name of the sea may signify the seasonal blooms of the red-coloured ''
Trichodesmium erythraeum'' near the water's surface. A theory favored by some modern scholars is that the name ''red'' is referring to the direction south, just as the
Black Sea's name may refer to north. The basis of this theory is that some Asiatic languages used color words to refer to the
cardinal directions
The four cardinal directions, or cardinal points, are the four main compass directions: north, east, south, and west, commonly denoted by their initials N, E, S, and W respectively. Relative to north, the directions east, south, and west are at ...
.
Herodotus
Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer
A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society ...
on one occasion uses Red Sea and Southern Sea interchangeably.
The name in Hebrew ''
Yam Suph'' ( he, ים סוף, lit=Sea of Reeds) is of biblical origin.
The name in ''Phiom Enhah'' ("Sea of Hah") is connected to
Ancient Egyptian root ''ḥ-ḥ'' which refers to water and sea (for example the names of the
Ogdoad gods
Heh and Hauhet).
Historically, it was also known to western geographers as ''Mare Mecca'' (Sea of Mecca), and ''Sinus Arabicus'' (Gulf of Arabia). Some ancient geographers called the Red Sea the Arabian Gulf or Gulf of Arabia.
The association of the Red Sea with the
biblical account of the Israelites
crossing the Red Sea
The Crossing of the Red Sea ( he, קריעת ים סוף, Kriat Yam Suph, parting of the Sea of Reeds) forms an episode in the biblical narrative of The Exodus.
It tells of the escape of the Israelites, led by Moses, from the pursuing Egyptians ...
is ancient, and was made explicit in the
Septuagint
The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond ...
translation of the
Book of Exodus from
Hebrew to
Koine Greek in approximately the third century B.C. In that version, the ''
Yam Suph'' ( he, ים סוף, lit=Sea of Reeds) is translated as ''Erythra Thalassa'' (Red Sea).
The Red Sea is one of four seas named in English after common
color terms – the others being the
Black Sea, the
White Sea and the
Yellow Sea. The direct rendition of the Greek ''Erythra thalassa'' in Latin as
Mare Erythraeum refers to the north-western part of the
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by t ...
, and also to a region on
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin at ...
.
History
Ancient era
The earliest known exploration of the Red Sea was conducted by
ancient Egyptians, as they attempted to establish commercial routes to
Punt. One such expedition took place around 2500 BC, and another around 1500 BC (by
Hatshepsut
Hatshepsut (; also Hatchepsut; Egyptian: '' ḥꜣt- špswt'' "Foremost of Noble Ladies"; or Hatasu c. 1507–1458 BC) was the fifth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt. She was the second historically confirmed female pharaoh, af ...
). Both involved long voyages down the Red Sea. The biblical
Book of Exodus tells the account of the
Israelites'
crossing of a body of water, which the Hebrew text calls ''
Yam Suph'' (). ''Yam Suph'' was traditionally identified as the Red Sea. Rabbi
Saadia Gaon (882‒942), in his Judeo-Arabic translation of the Pentateuch, identifies the crossing place of the Red Sea as ''Baḥar al-Qulzum'', meaning the
Gulf of Suez
The Gulf of Suez ( ar, خليج السويس, khalīǧ as-suwais; formerly , ', "Sea of Calm") is a gulf at the northern end of the Red Sea, to the west of the Sinai Peninsula. Situated to the east of the Sinai Peninsula is the smaller Gulf of ...
.
Darius the Great of Persia sent reconnaissance missions to the Red Sea, improving and extending navigation by locating many hazardous rocks and currents. A canal was built between the
Nile and the northern end of the Red Sea at
Suez
Suez ( ar, السويس '; ) is a seaport city (population of about 750,000 ) in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez (a branch of the Red Sea), near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal, having the same bou ...
. In the late 4th century BC,
Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...
sent Greek naval expeditions down the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean. Greek navigators continued to explore and compile data on the Red Sea.
Agatharchides
Agatharchides or Agatharchus ( grc-gre, Ἀγαθαρχίδης or , ''Agatharchos'') of Cnidus was a Greek historian and geographer (flourished 2nd century BC).
Life
Agatharchides is believed to have been born at Cnidus, hence his appellation. A ...
collected information about the sea in the 2nd century BC. The ''
Periplus of the Erythraean Sea'' ("
Periplus of the Red Sea"), a
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
periplus
A periplus (), or periplous, is a manuscript document that lists the ports and coastal landmarks, in order and with approximate intervening distances, that the captain of a vessel could expect to find along a shore. In that sense, the periplus wa ...
written by an unknown author around the 1st century, contains a detailed description of the Red Sea's ports and sea routes. The Periplus also describes how
Hippalus first discovered the direct route from the Red Sea to India.
The Red Sea was favored for
Roman trade with India starting with the reign of
Augustus, when the
Roman Empire gained control over the Mediterranean,
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
, and the northern Red Sea. The route had been used by previous states but grew in the volume of traffic under the Romans. From Indian ports goods from
China were introduced to the Roman world. Contact between Rome and China depended on the Red Sea, but the route was broken by the
Aksumite Empire
The Kingdom of Aksum ( gez, መንግሥተ አክሱም, ), also known as the Kingdom of Axum or the Aksumite Empire, was a kingdom centered in Northeast Africa and South Arabia from Classical antiquity to the Middle Ages. Based primarily in wh ...
around the 3rd century AD.
Middle Ages and modern era
During the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
, the Red Sea was an important part of the
spice trade route. In 1183,
Raynald of Châtillon
Raynald of Châtillon (french: Renaud; 11254 July 1187), also known as Reynald or Reginald, was a Crusader knight of French origin but also Prince of Antioch from 1153 to 1160 or 1161, and Lord of Oultrejordain from 1175 until his death. He w ...
launched a raid down the Red Sea to attack the Muslim pilgrim convoys to Mecca. The possibility that Raynald's fleet might sack the holy cities of Mecca and Medina caused fury throughout the Muslim world. However, it appears that Reynald's target were the lightly armed Muslim pilgrim convoys rather the well guarded cities of Mecca and Medina, and the belief in the Muslim world that Reynald was seeking to sack the holy cities was due to the proximity of those cities to the areas that Raynald raided. In 1513, trying to secure that channel to Portugal,
Afonso de Albuquerque laid
siege to Aden but was forced to retreat. They cruised the Red Sea inside the
Bab al-Mandab
The Bab-el-Mandeb (Arabic: , , ) is a strait between Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula, and Djibouti and Eritrea in the Horn of Africa. It connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden.
Name
The strait derives its name from the dangers attendin ...
, as the first fleet from Europe in modern times to have sailed these waters. Later in 1524 the city was delivered to Governor Heitor da Silveira as an agreement for protection from the Ottomans.
In 1798,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
ordered General
Napoleon to invade
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
and take control of the Red Sea. Although he failed in his mission, the engineer
Jean-Baptiste Lepère
Jean-Baptiste Lepère (December 1, 1761 – July 16, 1844) was a French architect, father-in-law of the architect Jacques Hittorff. He was the designer of the church of Saint-Vincent-de-Paul, Paris, largely revised by Hittorf during its protract ...
, who took part in it, revitalised the plan for a canal which had been envisaged during the reign of the
Pharaoh
Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: '' pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the ...
s. Several canals were built in ancient times from the Nile to the Red Sea along or near the line of the present
Sweet Water Canal
Sweetness is a basic taste most commonly perceived when eating foods rich in sugars. Sweet tastes are generally regarded as pleasurable. In addition to sugars like sucrose, many other chemical compounds are sweet, including aldehydes, ketone ...
, but none lasted for long. The
Suez Canal was opened in November 1869. After the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
, 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. 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 to piracy.
Oceanography
The Red Sea is between arid land,
desert and
semi-desert. Reef systems are better developed along the Red Sea mainly 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
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by t ...
via the
Gulf of Aden. These physical factors reduce the effect of high salinity caused by evaporation in the north and relatively hot water in the south.
The
climate of the Red Sea is the result of two monsoon seasons; a northeasterly monsoon and a southwesterly monsoon. Monsoon winds occur because of differential heating between the land and the sea. Very high surface temperatures and high salinities make this one of the warmest and saltiest bodies of seawater in the world. The average surface water temperature of the Red Sea during the summer is about in the north and in the south, with only about 2 °C (3.6 °F) variation during the winter months. The overall average water temperature is . Temperature and visibility remain good to around 200 m (656 ft). The sea is known for its strong winds and unpredictable local currents.
The
rainfall over the Red Sea and its coasts is extremely low, averaging per year. The rain is mostly short showers, often with thunderstorms and occasionally with dust
storm
A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere of an astronomical body. It may be marked by significant disruptions to normal conditions such as strong wind, tornadoes, hail, thunder and lightning (a thunderstorm), ...
s. The scarcity of rainfall and no major source of fresh water to the Red Sea result in excess evaporation as high as per year and high salinity with minimal seasonal variation. A recent underwater expedition to the Red Sea offshore from
Sudan and
Eritrea found surface water temperatures in winter and up to in the summer, but despite that extreme heat, the coral was healthy with much fish life with very little sign of
coral bleaching, with only 9% infected by ''
Thalassomonas loyana'', the 'white plague' agent.
''Favia favus'' coral there harbours a virus, BA3, which kills ''T. loyana''.
Scientists are investigating the unique properties of these coral and their
commensal
Commensalism is a long-term biological interaction (symbiosis) in which members of one species gain benefits while those of the other species neither benefit nor are harmed. This is in contrast with mutualism, in which both organisms benefit fro ...
algae to see if they can be used to salvage bleached coral elsewhere.
Salinity
The Red Sea is one of the saltiest bodies of water in the world, owing to high evaporation and low precipitation; no significant rivers or streams drain into the sea, and its southern connection to the
Gulf of Aden, an arm of the Indian Ocean, is narrow. Its
salinity ranges from between ~36
‰ in the southern part and 41 ‰ in the northern part around the
Gulf of Suez
The Gulf of Suez ( ar, خليج السويس, khalīǧ as-suwais; formerly , ', "Sea of Calm") is a gulf at the northern end of the Red Sea, to the west of the Sinai Peninsula. Situated to the east of the Sinai Peninsula is the smaller Gulf of ...
, with an average of 40 ‰. (Average salinity for the world's
seawater is ~35 ‰ on the Practical Salinity Scale, or PSU; that translates to 3.5% of actual dissolved salts).
Tidal range
In general, tide ranges between in the north, near the mouth of the Gulf of Suez and in the south near the Gulf of Aden, but it fluctuates between and 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
sabkha
A sabkha ( ar, سبخة) is a coastal, supratidal mudflat or sandflat in which evaporite-saline minerals accumulate as the result of semiarid to arid climate. Sabkhas are gradational between land and intertidal zone within restricted coastal p ...
s as a thin sheet of water up to a few hundred metres rather than flooding the
sabkha
A sabkha ( ar, سبخة) is a coastal, supratidal mudflat or sandflat in which evaporite-saline minerals accumulate as the result of semiarid to arid climate. Sabkhas are gradational between land and intertidal zone within restricted coastal p ...
s 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 , whereas north of Jeddah in the
Al-Kharrar area the sabkhas are covered by a thin sheet of water as far as . The prevailing north and northeast winds influence the movement of water in the coastal inlets to the adjacent sabkhas, especially during storms. Winter mean sea level is higher than in summer. Tidal velocities passing through constrictions caused by reefs, sand bars and low islands commonly exceed 1–2 m/s (3–6.5 ft/s). Coral reefs in the Red Sea are near Egypt, Eritrea, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Sudan.
Current
Detailed information regarding current data is lacking, partially because the currents are weak and both spatially and temporally variable. The variation of temporal and spatial currents is as low as and are governed all by wind. During the summer, NW winds drive surface water south for about four months at a velocity of 15–20 cm/s (6–8 in/s), 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 north end of the Red Sea. Generally, the velocity of the tidal current is between 50 and 60 cm/s (20–23.6 in/s) with a maximum of at the mouth of the al-Kharrar Lagoon. However, the range of the north-northeast current along the Saudi coast is 8–29 cm/s (3–11.4 in/s).
Wind regime
The north part of the Red Sea is dominated by persistent north-west
winds, with speeds ranging between and . The rest of the Red Sea and the
Gulf of Aden are subjected to regular and seasonally reversible winds. The wind
regime is characterized by seasonal and regional variations in
speed and
direction with average speed generally increasing northward.
Wind is the driving force in the Red Sea to transport material as suspension or as bedload. Wind-induced currents play an important role in the Red Sea in resuspending bottom sediments and transferring 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
The Red Sea was formed by the
Arabian peninsula being split from the
Horn of Africa by movement of the
Red Sea Rift
The Red Sea Rift is a spreading center between two tectonic plates, the African Plate and the Arabian Plate. It extends from the Dead Sea Transform fault system, and ends at an intersection with the Aden Ridge and the East African Rift, forming ...
. This split started in the
Eocene and accelerated during the
Oligocene. The sea is still widening (in 2005, following a three-week period of tectonic activity it had grown by 8m), and it is considered that it will become an ocean in time (as proposed in the model of
John Tuzo Wilson). In 1949, a deep water survey reported anomalously hot brines in the central portion of the Red Sea. Later work in the 1960s confirmed the presence of hot, 60 °C (140 °F), saline brines and associated metalliferous muds. The hot solutions were emanating from an active subseafloor
rift
In geology, a rift is a linear zone where the lithosphere is being pulled apart and is an example of extensional tectonics.
Typical rift features are a central linear downfaulted depression, called a graben, or more commonly a half-grabe ...
. Lake Asal in Djibouti is eligible as an experimental site to study the evolution of the deep hot brines of the Red Sea.
By observing the strontium isotope composition of the Red Sea brines, it is possible to deduce how these salt waters found at the bottom of the Red Sea could have evolved in a similar way to Lake Asal, which ideally represents their compositional extreme.
The high salinity of the waters was not hospitable to living organisms.
Sometime 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 have been:
*A "race" between the Red Sea widening and
Perim Island erupting filling the Bab el Mandeb with
lava.
*The lowering of world
sea level
Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardise ...
during the
Ice Ages because of much water being locked up in the
ice caps.
A number of volcanic islands rise from the center of the sea. Most are dormant. However, in 2007,
Jabal al-Tair island in the Bab el Mandeb strait erupted violently. Two new islands were formed in 2011 and 2013 in the
Zubair Archipelago, a small chain of islands owned by Yemen. The first island, Sholan Island, emerged in an eruption in December 2011, the second island, Jadid, emerged in September 2013.
Oilfields
The Durwara 2 Field was discovered in 1963, while the Suakin 1 Field and the Bashayer 1A Field were discovered in 1976, on the Egyptian side of the Red Sea. The Barqan Field was discovered in 1969, and the Midyan Field in 1992, both within the Midyan Basin on the Saudi Arabian side of the Red Sea. The 20-m thick
Middle Miocene Maqna
Formation is an oil source rock in the basin.
Oil seep
A petroleum seep is a place where natural liquid or gaseous hydrocarbons escape to the earth's atmosphere and surface, normally under low pressure or flow. Seeps generally occur above either terrestrial or offshore petroleum accumulation stru ...
s occur near the
Farasan Islands, the
Dahlak Archipelago, along the coast of Eritrea, and in the southeastern Red Sea along the coasts of Saudi Arabia and Yemen.
Mineral resources
In terms of mineral resources the major constituents of the Red Sea sediments are as follows:
*Biogenic constituents:
:Nanofossils,
foraminifera,
pteropods, siliceous fossils
*
Volcanogenic constituents:
:
Tuff
Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock ...
ites,
volcanic ash,
montmorillonite
Montmorillonite is a very soft phyllosilicate group of minerals that form when they precipitate from water solution as microscopic crystals, known as clay. It is named after Montmorillon in France. Montmorillonite, a member of the smectite gro ...
,
cristobalite,
zeolites
*Terrigenous constituents:
:
Quartz
Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica ( silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical ...
,
feldspars, rock fragments,
mica, heavy minerals,
clay minerals
*Authigenic minerals:
:
Sulfide mineral
The sulfide minerals are a class of minerals containing sulfide (S2−) or disulfide (S22−) as the major anion. Some sulfide minerals are economically important as metal ores. The sulfide class also includes the selenides, the tellurides, th ...
s,
aragonite
Aragonite is a carbonate mineral, one of the three most common naturally occurring crystal forms of calcium carbonate, (the other forms being the minerals calcite and vaterite). It is formed by biological and physical processes, including pre ...
,
calcite, protodolomite,
dolomite, quartz,
chalcedony
Chalcedony ( , or ) is a cryptocrystalline form of silica, composed of very fine intergrowths of quartz and moganite. These are both silica minerals, but they differ in that quartz has a trigonal crystal structure, while moganite is monocli ...
.
*Evaporite minerals:
:
Magnesite,
gypsum,
anhydrite
Anhydrite, or anhydrous calcium sulfate, is a mineral with the chemical formula CaSO4. It is in the orthorhombic crystal system, with three directions of perfect cleavage parallel to the three planes of symmetry. It is not isomorphous with the ...
,
halite,
polyhalite
Polyhalite is an evaporite mineral, a hydrated sulfate of potassium, calcium and magnesium with formula: . Polyhalite crystallizes in the triclinic system, although crystals are very rare. The normal habit is massive to fibrous. It is typically c ...
*Brine precipitate:
:Fe-montmorillonite,
goethite
Goethite (, ) is a mineral of the diaspore group, consisting of iron(III) oxide-hydroxide, specifically the "α" polymorph. It is found in soil and other low-temperature environments such as sediment. Goethite has been well known since ancient t ...
,
hematite,
siderite
Siderite is a mineral composed of iron(II) carbonate (FeCO3). It takes its name from the Greek word σίδηρος ''sideros,'' "iron". It is a valuable iron mineral, since it is 48% iron and contains no sulfur or phosphorus. Zinc, magnesium and ...
,
rhodochrosite
Rhodochrosite is a manganese carbonate mineral with chemical composition MnCO3. In its (rare) pure form, it is typically a rose-red color, but impure specimens can be shades of pink to pale brown. It streaks white, and its Mohs hardness varies bet ...
,
pyrite,
sphalerite, anhydrite.
Ecosystem
The Red Sea is a rich and diverse
ecosystem
An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...
. More than
1200 species of fish have been recorded in the Red Sea, and around 10% of these are found nowhere else. This also includes 42 species of
deepwater fish.
The rich diversity is in part due to the of
coral reef extending along its
coastline; these
fringing reefs are 5000–7000 years old and are largely formed of stony
acropora and
porites corals. The reefs form platforms and sometimes
lagoons along the coast and occasional other features such as cylinders (such as the
Blue Hole (Red Sea) at
Dahab
Dahab ( arz, دهب, , "gold") is a small Egyptian town on the southeast coast of the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt, approximately northeast of Sharm el-Sheikh. Formerly a Bedouin fishing village, Dahab is now considered to be one of Egypt's most tre ...
). These coastal reefs are also visited by
pelagic species of Red Sea fish, including some of the
44 species of shark.
It contains 175 species of
nudibranch
Nudibranchs () are a group of soft-bodied marine gastropod molluscs which shed their shells after their larval stage. They are noted for their often extraordinary colours and striking forms, and they have been given colourful nicknames to match, ...
, many of which are only found in the Red Sea.
The Red Sea also contains many offshore reefs including several true atolls. Many of the unusual offshore reef formations defy
classic (i.e., Darwinian) coral reef classification schemes, and are generally attributed to the high levels of tectonic activity that characterize the area.
The special
biodiversity
Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...
of the area is recognized by the
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
ian government, who set up the
Ras Mohammed National Park in 1983. The rules and regulations governing this area protect local marine life, which has become a major draw for
diving enthusiasts.
Divers and
snorkellers should be aware that although most Red Sea species are innocuous, a few are
hazardous to humans.
[Lieske, E. and Myers, R.F. (2004) ''Coral reef guide; Red Sea'' London, HarperCollins ]
Other marine habitats include
sea grass beds,
salt pans,
mangrove
A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evolution in severa ...
and
salt marsh.
Desalination plants
There is extensive demand for
desalinated water to meet the needs 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
bleach and kill
corals and cause diseases in the fish. This is only localized, but it may intensify with time and profoundly impact the fishing industry.
Trade
The Red Sea serves an important role in the global economy, with cargo vessels travelling between the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea every year, thus shortening the path between Asia and Europe almost twice (as compared to travelling around Africa via the Atlantic Ocean).
Tourism
The sea is known for its
recreational diving
Recreational diving or sport diving is diving for the purpose of leisure and enjoyment, usually when using scuba equipment. The term "recreational diving" may also be used in contradistinction to "technical diving", a more demanding aspect of ...
sites, such as
Ras Mohammed,
SS Thistlegorm (shipwreck),
Elphinstone Reef,
The Brothers,
Daedalus Reef,
St.John's Reef,
Rocky Island in
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
and less known sites in
Sudan such as
Sanganeb,
Abington,
Angarosh and
Shaab Rumi.
The Red Sea became a popular destination for diving after the expeditions of
Hans Hass in the 1950s, and later by
Jacques-Yves Cousteau
Jacques-Yves Cousteau, (, also , ; 11 June 191025 June 1997) was a French naval officer, oceanographer, filmmaker and author. He co-invented the first successful Aqua-Lung, open-circuit SCUBA ( self-contained underwater breathing apparatus). T ...
.
Popular tourist resorts include
El Gouna
El Gouna ( ar, الجونة ' , "the Lagoon") is an Egyptian tourist city, owned and developed by Samih Sawiris' Orascom Development, dating from 1989. It is located on the Red Sea in the Red Sea Governorate of Egypt, north of Hurghada. It is ...
,
Hurghada
Hurghada (; ar, الغردقة ', ) is a city in the Red Sea Governorate of Egypt. It is one of the country's main tourist centres located on the Red Sea coast.
Overview
Hurghada was founded in the early 20th century. For many decades it wa ...
,
Safaga
Port Safaga, also known as Safaga ( ar, سفاجا ', ), is a town in Egypt, on the coast of the Red Sea, located south of Hurghada. This small port is also a tourist area that consists of several bungalows and rest houses, including the Safaga ...
,
Marsa Alam
Marsa Alam ( ar, مرسى علم ' , Classical Arabic ) is a town in south-eastern Egypt, located on the western shore of the Red Sea. It is currently seeing fast increasing popularity as a tourist destination and development following the openi ...
, on the west shore of the Red Sea, and
Sharm-el-Sheikh,
Dahab
Dahab ( arz, دهب, , "gold") is a small Egyptian town on the southeast coast of the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt, approximately northeast of Sharm el-Sheikh. Formerly a Bedouin fishing village, Dahab is now considered to be one of Egypt's most tre ...
, and
Taba on the
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
ian side of
Sinaï, as well as
Aqaba
Aqaba (, also ; ar, العقبة, al-ʿAqaba, al-ʿAgaba, ) is the only coastal city in Jordan and the largest and most populous city on the Gulf of Aqaba. Situated in southernmost Jordan, Aqaba is the administrative centre of the Aqaba Govern ...
in
Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
and
Eilat in
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
in an area known as the
Red Sea Riviera
The Red Sea Riviera, Egypt's eastern coastline along the Red Sea, consists of resort cities on the western shore of the Gulf of Aqaba and along the eastern coast of mainland Egypt, south of the Gulf of Suez. The combination of a favorable climate ...
.
The popular tourist beach of Sharm el-Sheikh was closed to all swimming in December 2010 due to several serious
shark attacks
A shark attack is an attack on a human by a shark. Every year, around 80 unprovoked attacks are reported worldwide. Despite their rarity, many people fear shark attacks after occasional serial attacks, such as the Jersey Shore shark attacks of 1 ...
, including a fatality. As of December 2010, scientists are investigating the attacks and have identified, but not verified, several possible causes including over-fishing which causes large sharks to hunt closer to shore, tourist boat operators who chum offshore for shark-photo opportunities, and reports of ships throwing dead livestock overboard. The sea's narrowness, significant depth, and sharp drop-offs, all combine to form a geography where large deep-water sharks can roam in hundreds of meters of water, yet be within a hundred meters of swimming areas. The Red Sea Project is building highest quality accommodation and a wide range of facilities on the coast line in Saudi Arabia. This will allow people to visit the coastline of the Red Sea by the end of 2022 but will be fully finished by 2030.
Tourism to the region has been threatened by occasional terrorist attacks, and by incidents related to food safety standards.
Security
The Red Sea is part of the
sea roads between
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
, the
Persian Gulf and
East Asia
East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both Geography, geographical and culture, ethno-cultural terms. The modern State (polity), states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. ...
, and as such has heavy
shipping traffic. Government-related bodies with responsibility to police the Red Sea area include the
Port Said Port Authority,
Suez Canal Authority
Suez Canal Authority (SCA) is an Egyptian state-owned authority which owns, operates and maintains the Suez Canal. It was set up by the Egyptian government to replace the Suez Canal Company in the 1950s which resulted in the Suez Crisis. After th ...
and
Red Sea Ports Authority of
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
,
Jordan Maritime Authority,
Israel Port Authority,
Saudi Ports Authority
Saudi Ports Authority () is a government agency that supervises the ports of Saudi Arabia. It was founded in 1976 as an independent agency of the Prime Minister's office, to bring together the governance and operations of the multiple ports of t ...
and
Sea Ports Corporation of
Sudan.
Bordering countries
The Red Sea may be geographically divided into three sections: the Red Sea proper, and in the north, the Gulf of Aqaba and the Gulf of Suez. The six countries bordering the Red Sea proper are:
* Eastern shore:
**
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
**
Yemen
Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...
* Western shore:
**
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
**
Sudan
**
Eritrea
**
Djibouti
The Gulf of Suez is entirely bordered by Egypt. The Gulf of Aqaba borders Egypt,
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
,
Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
and Saudi Arabia.
In addition to the standard geographical definition of the six countries bordering the Red Sea cited above, areas such as
Somaliland are sometimes also described as Red Sea territories. This is primarily due to their proximity to and geological similarities with the nations facing the Red Sea and/or political ties with said areas.
Towns and cities
Towns and cities on the Red Sea coast (including the coasts of the Gulfs of Aqaba and Suez) include:
*
Al Hudaydah, Yemen (الحديدة)
*
Al Lith, Saudi Arabia (الليِّث)
*
Al Qunfudhah, Saudi Arabia (القنفذة)
*
Al-Qusair, Egypt (القصير)
*
Al Wajh, Saudi Arabia (الوجه)
*
Aqaba
Aqaba (, also ; ar, العقبة, al-ʿAqaba, al-ʿAgaba, ) is the only coastal city in Jordan and the largest and most populous city on the Gulf of Aqaba. Situated in southernmost Jordan, Aqaba is the administrative centre of the Aqaba Govern ...
, Jordan (العقبة)
*
Asseb
Assab or Aseb (, ) is a port city in the Southern Red Sea Region of Eritrea. It is situated on the west coast of the Red Sea.
Languages spoken in Assab are predominantly Afar, Tigrinya, and Arabic. Assab is known for its large market, beaches ...
, Eritrea (ዓሰብ/عصب)
*
Dahab
Dahab ( arz, دهب, , "gold") is a small Egyptian town on the southeast coast of the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt, approximately northeast of Sharm el-Sheikh. Formerly a Bedouin fishing village, Dahab is now considered to be one of Egypt's most tre ...
, Egypt (دهب)
*
Duba, Saudi Arabia (ضباء)
*
Eilat, Israel (אילת)
*
El Gouna
El Gouna ( ar, الجونة ' , "the Lagoon") is an Egyptian tourist city, owned and developed by Samih Sawiris' Orascom Development, dating from 1989. It is located on the Red Sea in the Red Sea Governorate of Egypt, north of Hurghada. It is ...
, Egypt (الجونة)
*
El Suweis, Egypt (السويس)
*
Hala'ib, Egypt and Sudan (حلايب) (disputed)
*
Haql, Saudi Arabia (حقل)
*
Hirgigo
Arkiko ( ar, حرقيقو, Afar and Saho: ''Hirg-Higo'', alternately Archigo, Arqiqo, Ercoco, Hirgigo, Hargigo or Harkiko) is a town in the Northern Red Sea region of Eritrea. Situated on the Red Sea, it lies on the mainland across from the city ...
, Eritrea (ሕርጊጎ/حرقيقو)
*
Hurghada
Hurghada (; ar, الغردقة ', ) is a city in the Red Sea Governorate of Egypt. It is one of the country's main tourist centres located on the Red Sea coast.
Overview
Hurghada was founded in the early 20th century. For many decades it wa ...
, Egypt (الغردقة)
*
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (جدة)
*
Jazan, Saudi Arabia (جازان)
*
Marsa Alam
Marsa Alam ( ar, مرسى علم ' , Classical Arabic ) is a town in south-eastern Egypt, located on the western shore of the Red Sea. It is currently seeing fast increasing popularity as a tourist destination and development following the openi ...
, Egypt (مرسى علم)
*
Massawa, Eritrea (ምጽዋዕ/مصوع)
*
Moulhoule, Djibouti (مول هولة )
*
Nuweiba
Nuweiba (also spelled: Nueiba; ar, نويبع, ) is a coastal town in the eastern part of Sinai Peninsula, Egypt, located on the coast of the Gulf of Aqaba.
History
Historically, it is in the Asian Part of Egypt and the area was inhabited by t ...
, Egypt (نويبع)
*
Port Safaga
Port Safaga, also known as Safaga ( ar, سفاجا ', ), is a town in Egypt, on the coast of the Red Sea, located south of Hurghada. This small port is also a tourist area that consists of several bungalows and rest houses, including the Safaga ...
, Egypt (ميناء سفاجا)
*
Port Sudan, Sudan (بورت سودان)
*
Rabigh, Saudi Arabia (رابغ)
*
Sharm el Sheikh
Sharm El Sheikh ( ar, شرم الشيخ, ), commonly abbreviated to Sharm, is an Egyptian city on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula, in South Sinai Governorate, on the coastal strip along the Red Sea. Its population is approximately 53,670 ...
, Egypt (شرم الشيخ)
*
Soma Bay, Egypt (سوما باي)
*
Suakin
Suakin or Sawakin ( ar, سواكن, Sawákin, Beja: ''Oosook'') is a port city in northeastern Sudan, on the west coast of the Red Sea. It was formerly the region's chief port, but is now secondary to Port Sudan, about north.
Suakin used to b ...
, Sudan (سواكن)
*
Taba, Egypt (طابا)
*
Thuwal, Saudi Arabia (ثول)
*
Yanbu
Yanbu ( ar, ينبع, lit=Spring, translit=Yanbu'), also known simply as Yambu or Yenbo, is a city in the Al Madinah Province of western Saudi Arabia. It is approximately 300 kilometers northwest of Jeddah (at ). The population is 222,360 (2 ...
, Saudi Arabia (ينبع)
Facts and figures
:* Length: ~ - 79% of the eastern Red Sea with numerous coastal inlets
:* Maximum Width: ~ 306–355 km (190–220 mi)– Massawa (Eritrea)
:* Minimum Width: ~ 26–29 km (16–18 mi)-
Bab el Mandeb Strait (Yemen)
:* Average Width: ~
:* Average Depth: ~
:* Maximum Depth: ~
:* Surface Area: 438-450 x 10
2 km
2 (16,900–17,400 sq mi)
:* Volume: 215–251 x 10
3 km
3 (51,600–60,200 cu mi)
:* Approximately 40% of the Red Sea is quite shallow (under 100 m/330 ft), and about 25% is under deep.
:* About 15% of the Red Sea is over 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 ~)
:* Centre of Red Sea has a narrow trough (''Suakin Trough'') (~ ; with maximum depth )
See also
*
Benjamin Kahn
* ferry disaster
*
Crossing the Red Sea
The Crossing of the Red Sea ( he, קריעת ים סוף, Kriat Yam Suph, parting of the Sea of Reeds) forms an episode in the biblical narrative of The Exodus.
It tells of the escape of the Israelites, led by Moses, from the pursuing Egyptians ...
, a Biblical tale from the
Book of Exodus
*
Red Sea Dam
*
Robert Moresby
References
Further reading
*
* Miran, Jonathan. (2018). "The Red Sea," in David Armitage, Alison Bashford and
Sujit Sivasundaram (eds.), ''Oceanic Histories'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), pp. 156–181.
External links
Red Sea Coral Reefs*
{{Authority control
Tourist attractions in Egypt
Egypt–Sudan border
Eritrea–Sudan border
Great Rift Valley
Marine ecoregions
Saudi Arabia–Yemen border
Suez Canal
Underwater diving sites
Marginal seas of the Indian Ocean
Gulfs of the Indian Ocean
Geography of East Africa
Geography of North Africa
Geography of the Middle East
Geography of Western Asia
Horn of Africa
Seas of Africa
Seas of Asia
Bodies of water of Egypt
Bodies of water of Eritrea
Bodies of water of Israel
Bodies of water of Jordan
Bodies of water of Saudi Arabia
Bodies of water of Sudan
Seas of Yemen
Inlets of Asia
Articles containing video clips