Editing Dead Sea (section)

==Geography==
[[File:Dead Sea Galilee.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Satellite photography|Satellite photograph]], showing the location of the Dead Sea east of the Mediterranean Sea]]
The Dead Sea is a [[salt lake]] is bordered by [[Jordan]] to the east and [[Palestine]]'s [[Israeli-occupied West Bank]] and [[Israel]] to the west.<ref name="DSC1">{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/10/world/middleeast/israel-jordan-and-palestinians-sign-water-project-deal.html|work=The New York Times|title=A Rare Middle East Agreement, on Water|date=9 December 2013|accessdate=4 December 2023|quote=About 25 miles of the Dead Sea's shoreline lie in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and are claimed by the Palestinians as part of a future state.}}</ref><ref name="DSC2">{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/pictureshow/2022/12/11/1139524126/photos-dead-sea-water-level-dropping-sinkholes-erosion|work=NPR|title=The Dead Sea is dying. These beautiful, ominous photos show the impact|accessdate=4 December 2023|date=11 December 2022|quote=The Dead Sea is a landlocked lake that's partly in Jordan, Israel and the Israeli-occupied West Bank.}}</ref> It is an [[endorheic basin|endorheic lake]], meaning there are no outlet streams.

The Dead Sea lies in the [[Jordan Rift Valley]], a geographic feature formed by the [[Dead Sea Transform]] (DST). This left lateral-moving [[transform fault]] lies along the [[tectonic]] [[plate tectonics|plate boundary]] between the [[African Plate]] and the [[Arabian Plate]]. It runs between the [[East Anatolian Fault]] zone in [[Turkey]] and the northern end of the [[Red Sea Rift]] offshore of the southern tip of [[Sinai Peninsula|Sinai]].

Water feeds into the Dead Sea from various sources, many small or intermittent, including:
* [[Jordan River]], international border from the north<ref name="DSC1" />
* [[Arava Stream]] (Wadi Arava), international border from the south
* [[Wadi Mujib]] (Arnon Stream), Jordan, [[Karak Governorate]]<ref name="RSDSC"/>
* [[Wadi Darga]]<ref name="RSDSC"/> (Wadi Darajeh, Nahal Darga, or Nahal Dragot), West Bank
* [[Wadi al-Hasa]] (Brook of Zered), Jordan, boundary between [[Karak Governorate]] and [[Tafilah Governorate]]
* [[Nahal Arugot]] (Wadi Areijeh or Wadi Argot), mouth at [[Ein Gedi]], Israel<ref name="RSDSC">{{Cite web |url=http://www.gsi.gov.il/_uploads/ftp/GsiReport/2010/Tahal-GSI-19-2010.pdf |title=Red Sea – Dead Sea Water Conveyance Study (RSDSC) Program: Dead Sea Study, July 2010, p. 64 |access-date=2016-10-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161224200944/http://www.gsi.gov.il/_uploads/ftp/GsiReport/2010/Tahal-GSI-19-2010.pdf |archive-date=2016-12-24 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* [[Wadi Wala]], Jordan side<ref name="RSDSC"/>
* [[Wadi Zarqa Ma'in]], Jordan side<ref name="RSDSC"/>
* [[Nahal Tur]], West Bank
* [[Nahal Og]], West Bank
* Groundwater seepage<ref name="RSDSC"/>
* Direct rainfall

([[Wadi]] is the Arabic term for a river valley with a small or intermittent stream; ''Nahal'' is the equivalent in Hebrew. The two terms are often used interchangeably in English names for the same body of water.)

The water of [[Wadi Hassa]] is now completely consumed in Jordan.<ref name="RSDSC"/> The Jordan River, which passes through the [[Sea of Galilee]], has been substantially diverted. It currently only contributes about one-sixth of the inflow to the Dead Sea, less than direct rainfall.<ref name="RSDSC"/>

There are also small perennial springs under and around the Dead Sea, forming pools and [[quicksand]] pits along the edges.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tommyimages.com/Stock_Photos/Middle_East/Israel/Dead_Sea/index.html|title=Springs and quicksand at the Dead Sea|access-date=August 27, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081122023153/http://www.tommyimages.com/Stock_Photos/Middle_East/Israel/Dead_Sea/index.html|archive-date=November 22, 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The Wadi Mujib valley, 420 m below the sea level in the southern part of the Jordan valley, is a [[Man and the Biosphere Programme#Biosphere reserves|biosphere reserve]], with an area of {{convert|212|km2|abbr=on|lk=on}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unesco.org/new/en/natural-sciences/environment/ecological-sciences/biosphere-reserves/arab-states/jordan/mujib/|title=Mujib|publisher=UNESCO|access-date=7 May 2016|archive-date=30 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190930120313/http://www.unesco.org/new/en/natural-sciences/environment/ecological-sciences/biosphere-reserves/arab-states/jordan/mujib/|url-status=live}}</ref>
Rainfall is scarcely {{convert|100|mm|in|0|abbr=on}} per year in the northern part of the Dead Sea and barely {{convert|50|mm|in|0|abbr=on}} in the southern part.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://exact-me.org/overview/p4144.htm |title=Dead Sea |publisher=Exact Me.org |access-date=January 21, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130120074227/http://exact-me.org/overview/p4144.htm |archive-date=January 20, 2013 }}</ref> The Dead Sea zone's aridity is due to the [[rainshadow]] effect of the [[Judaean Mountains]]. The [[highland]]s east of the Dead Sea receive more rainfall than the Dead Sea itself.

To the west of the Dead Sea, the Judaean mountains rise less steeply and are much lower than the mountains to the east. Along the southwestern side of the lake is a {{convert|210|m|ft|-2|abbr=on}} tall [[halite]] mineral formation called [[Mount Sodom]].