Satellite images from space show the Red Sea as a blue line running approximately north to south along the northeastern edge of the African continent.
The deep blue of the water, in stark contrast to the pale brown of the surrounding landscape, belies the sea’s famous name. There does not seem to be any “red” in the Red Sea.
So how did the Red Sea get its famous nickname?
“I don’t think anyone knows how it got its name,” said Karen Kleinhouse, associate professor of marine and atmospheric sciences at Stony Brook University in New York. He added that the answer may have to do with algae — in this case, Trichodesmium erythraeum. A type of cyanobacteria (aquatic bacteria that live on photosynthesis) that belongs to the blue-green algae group, sometimes called “sea shavings”, and is responsible for 60 to 80% of nitrogen turnover in the ocean. World Observatory. I hope in.
But Kleinhouse said the Red Sea may have gotten its name from the red mountains that surround parts of its coastline, such as the Jordan coast.
But the Red Sea is not just known by name. “The Red Sea is a biodiversity hotspot with a lot of endemic fauna found only in the Red Sea or in the Gulf of Aden,” Kleinhouse said. Sabi.
The Red Sea is located between northeastern Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. It stretches approximately 1,200 miles (1,930 km) from the Gulf of Suez in the north to the Gulf of Aden in the south, eventually connecting with the Indian Ocean. According to the Britannica, the Red Sea has a maximum width of 190 miles (305 kilometers) and a maximum depth of 9,974 feet (3,040 meters). It covers an area of approximately 174,000 square miles (450,000 square kilometers).
The Red Sea contains one of the longest coral reefs in the world. It spans 2,485 miles (4,000 km) and is home to a rich diversity of marine life. The unique characteristics of the reefs make them one of the only marine protected areas in the world protected from climate change, Kleinhouse said.
“The corals that got there at the end of the last Ice Age were corals that could only withstand very high temperatures and salinity because of the conditions of the Red Sea when they entered. Therefore, they now live below extreme temperatures and are expected to be one of the last surviving coral reefs of this century. ”
Kleinhouse said the Red Sea is one of the smallest water bodies in the world and is formed by splitting two tectonic plates, the Arabian and African plates. “These things are still separating, so the sea is growing,” he added.
Source: Life Science
Source: Arabic RT
