Red Sea in Africa. Red Sea - where the warmest body of water is located

It is located between Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, which belongs to Asia. It is located in a tectonic depression between two lithospheric plates - African and Arabian. It should be noted that the water in the sea is not red at all. It is very clean and blue. Where did this name come from?

The ancient peoples who inhabited the Middle East gave flower names to different parts of the world. The north was associated with the color black. The color white symbolized the east, and the south was associated with the color red. The reservoir we are considering for the inhabitants of the Mediterranean was located just in the south. That's why it was called "red". But this is only one of the hypotheses that explains the name. In reality, there are many more different assumptions and opinions on this issue.

General characteristics

The area of ​​the water surface of the reservoir is 438 thousand square meters. km. The length is 2250 km. At its widest point, the width reaches 335 km. The maximum depth is 2211 meters. The average depth is taken to be 490 meters. This is the northernmost tropical sea on the planet.

On its shores there are states such as Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel, Egypt, Sudan, Eritrea, Djibouti. In the north, the Sinai Peninsula wedges into the sea. As a result, there are 2 gulfs: Suez and Aqaba. The second connects to the reservoir through the Strait of Tiran. The Gulf of Suez ends with the Suez Canal, which connects the Mediterranean to the Red Sea. In the south, the reservoir connects through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait with the Gulf of Aden of the Indian Ocean.

Coastline slightly rugged. The bottom is divided into a coastal shallow, the depth of which does not exceed 200 m, a main deep-sea depression, up to 1000 meters deep, and a deep trench, where the maximum depth is recorded.

Salinity of water

This reservoir is one of the saltiest in the world. The salinity of its waters is 4% higher than the global average. This is due to high speed evaporation, low rainfall and limited connectivity with the Indian Ocean, which has low salinity. There is one more factor - rivers and streams do not flow into the Red Sea. Hence the crystal clarity of the water, since fresh water always carries salty pond sand and silt.

If we look at the numbers, salinity ranges from 36 g of salt per liter of water in the southern part of the reservoir to 41 g per liter in the northern part. The average salinity is 40 g per liter. And the world value according to the Practical Salinity Scale is 35 g per liter.

Red Sea on the map

Climate

The reservoir is under the influence of 2 monsoons - northeast and southwest. Average water temperature in summer period equal to 26 degrees Celsius in the north and 30 degrees Celsius in the south. Average annual temperature is 22 degrees Celsius. There are often winds at sea.

The amount of precipitation is small - only 8 cm per year. The rains come in the form of short showers. And 205 cm evaporates annually. The water deficit is compensated by the waters of the Indian Ocean entering through the narrow Bab el-Mandeb Strait (width from 26 to 90 km with a length of 109 km).

As for the air temperature, then cold period falls in December-January. At this time the temperature is 20-25 degrees Celsius. The hottest time is recorded in August. At this time, the air warms up to 35-40 degrees Celsius. Sometimes the thermometer shows 45-50 degrees Celsius.

Islands

The islands are mainly concentrated in the southern part of the reservoir. In the north, in the Strait of Tiran, there is an island of the same name with an area of ​​80 square meters. km. There is a UN military base on it; no civilians live there. Near the island there are coral reefs. And in the southern part there are archipelagos that unite numerous islands.

The largest is the Dahlak archipelago near the city of Massawa in Eritrea. It has 2 large and 124 small islands. Pearl fishing is practiced on the archipelago, but in small quantities. There is also the Farasan Archipelago, south of Saudi Arabia's Jizan, and the Hanish Archipelago, which belongs to Yemen. This state also owns the island of Kamaran with an area of ​​108 square meters. km. The local population is mainly engaged in fishing.

Mineral and biological resources

The Red Sea is rich in minerals. These include sulfide minerals, aragonite, calcite, chalcedony, dolomite, as well as magnesite, polyhalite, anhydrite and gypsum. Quartz, mica, clay minerals and feldspar are present.

Coral reefs stretch along the Egyptian coast. This is a vital center that attracts a large number of fish. Corals have a wide variety of shapes and a very rich range of colors. There are yellow, pink, blue and brown colors here. Dead corals have white. All this beauty attracts a large number of scuba diving enthusiasts.

Swimmer near a coral reef

Dolphins, killer whales live in the sea, sea ​​turtles, there are sharks, but they are found mainly in the waters of Sudan. There are more than 1,200 species of fish, and about 100 of them are found nowhere else. There are 42 species of deep-sea fish.

Desalination plants have been installed on the reservoir along the coast. Through them, seawater flows to oil refineries and cement plants, where it is used for cooling. The installations negatively affect corals and cause their premature death. As a result, the number of fish decreases. And although the harm caused is local in nature, in the long term it may have a negative impact on the fishing industry as a whole.

However, despite everything, the saltiest body of water on the planet is considered one of the most beautiful in the world and attracts a huge number of tourists..

Location: between the Arabian Peninsula and Africa
Washing the shores of countries: Egypt, Sudan, Djibouti, Eritrea, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Israel, Jordan
Square: 438,000 km²
Greatest depth: 2211 m
Coordinates: 20°44"41.1"N 37°55"27.9"E

The Red Sea, located in a tectonic depression and being the third largest inland sea on our planet, the Indian Ocean, is considered the youngest and most interesting in terms of the diversity of flora and fauna.

It is located between the African continent and the Arabian Peninsula. The Red Sea is connected to the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean through the well-known Suez Canal.

Speaking about the Red Sea, you should pay attention to the fact that it is considered the saltiest of all the seas that are part of the World Ocean, which washes all the continents of our planet.

“Why is this sea the saltiest of all the seas?” a person who does not know the geography and location of the Red Sea may ask. The thing is that the Red Sea is the only sea in the whole world into which not a single freshwater river flows. Naturally, it is significantly inferior in salt content to the Dead Sea, however, it should be remembered that practically no living organism is able to survive in the Dead Sea, and the Red Sea amazes even experienced divers with its abundance life forms. And this despite the fact that the salinity of the water of the magnificent Red Sea is up to 60 grams of salts per liter of water taken for laboratory analysis.

As a comparison, it is worth citing the salinity of the water, popular among domestic tourists, the Black Sea - it is only 18 grams of salts per liter of water.

In addition, describing the Red Sea, which is rightfully considered one of seven wonders of the underwater world, it is impossible not to mention that this is also the warmest sea on the planet. It is warmed not only by the rays of the sun, but also by the earth’s mantle, that is, in the Red Sea, unlike other seas, not cold, but warm layers of water rise from the depths. In winter, the water warms up to 21 - 23 degrees Celsius, and in summer up to +30. Due to the high temperature of the water and its constant evaporation, the Red Sea became the saltiest in the world, naturally, after the Dead Sea.

Origin of the name of the Red Sea

The Red Sea, according to the most conservative assumptions of scientists, originated 25 million years ago. Therefore, it is, alas, impossible to find out exactly why the Red Sea was called “Red”. There are only a few versions of the origin of the name of the Red Sea, although it is worth mentioning right away that none of them can be considered reliable.

According to the first version, the name comes from ancient language Himyarites - a people who lived in South Arabia long before these lands were captured by the Arabs. The conquerors tried for a long time to decipher the writing of the Semites and decided to read the three letters “X”, “M” and “P” in their own way - “akhmar”, which translated means red. This assumption can be considered as a version that does not deserve special attention: It’s hard to imagine that the Arabs decided to add vowels to a foreign language in order to get a word that would be familiar to them, because they were deciphering the language, and not merging it with their own.

The second version, according to historians, is more plausible, although it is associated with the myths of many peoples who inhabited the territory near the Red Sea. They associated each part of the world with a certain color. The color red was associated with the south, where the sea was located, hence its name. According to documents that have survived to this day and have been deciphered by scientists, the Red Sea was mentioned back in the 2nd century BC, and in the 16th century some researchers called this sea, which is part of the Indian Ocean, Suez.

As mentioned above, the sea was formed even when India began its movement towards to the Asian mainland, and this event occurred long before the appearance of the first man on Earth, so scientists will probably not be able to find out for sure why the saltiest sea that is part of the World Ocean was called “Red”.

The Long History of the Youngest Sea

Over the entire period of its existence, the Red Sea, despite its young age (naturally, according to geological standards), has experienced a number of changes and cataclysms. For 25 million years, which for our planet can be considered only a short moment, the level of the World Ocean has constantly fluctuated, which, by the way, is still happening. Glaciers melted and new ones formed; the waters of the oceans rose and fell by tens, or even hundreds of meters. As soon as the level of the World Ocean dropped significantly, the Red Sea turned into a huge salt lake, where the salt content was several times higher than the amount of salt per liter of water in the Dead Sea.

By the way, at the moment the sea is connected to the ocean by the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. The deepest point of the strait is 184 meters. One can only imagine what will happen if a new one begins ice age and the level of the World Ocean will drop by 190 meters. The Red Sea will cease to communicate with the waters of the Indian Ocean and once again will become dead. However, this does not threaten our contemporaries and descendants. Such a decrease in the level of the World Ocean occurs over hundreds of thousands of years, so the amazingly beautiful sea that washes the shores of Sudan, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and, of course, Egypt will delight everyone who wants to see all that wealth underwater world, which can only be found in the Red Sea or on the Barrier Reefs.

Scientists have found that the Red Sea quite often lost its “connection” with the World Ocean, and its coast dried up and was covered with salt. As a result of this, even now, alas, you will not find lush vegetation on the shores of the Red Sea, and you will not be able to quench your thirst from the spring that flows. The water underground also tastes salty. Surprisingly, even rains in the Red Sea area will not give the soil life-giving moisture; they, like the sea and the springs near it, are salty.

Forest by the Red Sea

Yes, dear reader, you heard right, in the northernmost part of the Red Sea there is a forest consisting of mangroves. This forest is part of a nature reserve called Nabq. Only mangroves are able to grow in salt water and do not require constant access to oxygen to the root system.

This amazing plant is able to remove excess salt through its leaves, and life-giving fresh moisture nourishes the wood. Mangroves usually grow together in such a way that it is quite difficult for a person to get through them, and once in a certain area, you can easily find yourself in a trap from which you can get out without outside help impossible. The mangroves of the Red Sea are home to a huge number of animals and birds, whose lives are monitored by ornithologists and zoologists in the reserve.

Flora and fauna of the Red Sea

If we say that The Red Sea is a real paradise for divers, fishermen and people interested in spearfishing, this will not be an exaggeration. You just have to put on a mask and pick up a snorkel, and right off the coast you can see the enchanting underwater world with many colorful corals, sponges, sea urchins and fish.

Sometimes it seems that each species competes with each other here in terms of brightness of color and unusual shape. Warm and crystal clear waters The Red Sea allows for the existence of many species of underwater flora and fauna, most of which are endemic. Life underwater is in full swing here and does not stop even in the dead of night.

Today alone, scientists who conduct research in the depths of the Red Sea have discovered and described almost 1,500 invertebrates, and almost the same number of fish species. The waters of the Red Sea are home to almost 300 species of corals, the reproduction of which is a fantastic picture.

Huge sea turtles and frolicking dolphins complement the amazing landscape and tell the tourist that he is in a place where underwater life is revealed to man in all its glory.

It is surprising that, according to ichthyologists, no more than 60% of the underwater inhabitants of the Red Sea have been discovered in our time. The greatest depth of this unique sea is more than 3 kilometers, which means that most deep sea fish are not yet known to science. So far, only forty-three species of fish living at great depths have been discovered. Also, the Red Sea constantly poses more and more mysteries for scientists. It is still unknown why about 30% of the inhabitants of the northern part of the sea cannot live in its other part.

It seems as if an invisible border prevents them from moving from north to south. Although the chemical composition of water and temperature conditions in these areas are almost identical. Maybe the reason lies in the word “almost”?...

Despite the extraterrestrial beauty of the underwater world, the Red Sea is fraught with a lot of dangers. Touching the most beautiful corals, sponges or fancy jellyfish in the sea is strictly prohibited. This is written about in almost every tourist brochure. Injection sea ​​urchin or the bite of a poisonous underwater snake, toothy moray eel may cause burns, allergic reaction, large blood loss, and sometimes the death of the victim.

When diving into the depths of the Red Sea, you must remember that it is home to 44 species of sharks. Some of them are quite harmless creatures that live only at great depths and feed on plankton or small fish. However, among them there are also species that are most dangerous to humans, for example, the tiger shark, which often attacks humans for no apparent reason. Her mouth is littered with huge sharp teeth which can easily tear off a limb. Alas, but in lately attacks began to occur more and more often tiger sharks on vacationers, which, for the most part, most often ended fatally. There is evidence that a large white shark, which, even according to scientists, is a killing machine.

Red Sea is an inland sea of ​​the Indian Ocean. This sea lies in a tectonic depression between the Arabian Peninsula and the continent. In the north Red Sea adjacent to the Isthmus of Suez. The Isthmus of Suez separates two gulfs: the Gulf of Suez and the Gulf of Aqaba, or as it is also called the Gulf of Eilat, which connects with Red Sea across the strait. Red Sea It is connected to the Mediterranean Sea by the Suez Canal. In the south Red Sea connects to the Arabian Sea by the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which translates from Arabic literally means “Gate of Tears”, and also with the Gulf of Aden.

Red Sea- This is the warmest sea on planet Earth. Another characteristic feature red sea is the fact that not a single river flows into it. Because of this, the water in Red Sea always crystal clear, since rivers usually bring silt and sand, and this has a significant influence on the transparency of sea water. Another unique feature red sea is that it is the saltiest sea in the World Ocean. Salt content in one liter of water red sea is 41 grams, while in the open ocean - 34 grams, in - 18 grams, in the Baltic Sea there are only 5 grams of salts per liter of water. Over the year Red Sea falls no more than 100 mm atmospheric precipitation, and evaporates 20 times more over the same period, that is, 2000 mm. Such a water shortage in Red Sea compensated only by the flow of water from the Gulf of Aden. Surface area red sea is approximately 450,000 km², almost 70% of total area the seas are in tropical zone. Water volume red sea is approximately 251,000 km³.

Red Sea extends into the land of Africa. Red Sea washes the shores of the following countries: Sudan, Djibouti, Eritrea, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Israel and Jordan. According to various estimates, the length red sea from north to south it varies from 1932 km to 2350 km, and the width - from 305 km to 360 km. Shores red sea slightly indented. Coastline red sea mainly predetermined by fault tectonics. In view of this, almost along their entire length the eastern and western banks are parallel to each other. Maximum depth red sea By different sources reaches from 2604 meters to 3040 meters. Near the coast red sea depth approximately 200 meters. And the average depth of the sea is 437 meters.

One of the main islands of the northern part red sea is the island of Tiran.

In the southwestern part red sea there are several groups of numerous islands, of which the Dahlak archipelago is the largest, as well as others smaller large archipelagos such as: Farasan, Suakin, Hanish. There are also individual islands, among which the most significant is Kamaran Island.

Red Sea

The Red Sea is the saltiest, warmest and cleanest sea in the world. The ancient Egyptians were the first to explore this body of water in 2500 BC. BC, looking for commercial routes to the south. The Red Sea is located between the East African coast and the Arabian Peninsula with a length of 2350 km, an average depth of 490 m.

The Red Sea does not include any rivers, so the reservoir is famous for its azure waters of crystal purity. Obviously, the name of the sea has nothing to do with the color of its turquoise waters, but why is it called the Red Sea?

: The Red Sea is the first in salt concentration among the seas included in the World Ocean: 1 liter of water accounts for 41 g of salts, which exceeds salinity indicators Baltic Sea(5 g salts), Black Sea (18 g salts) and even open ocean(34 g salts). In addition, thanks to the tropical climate off the coast of Egypt, the Red Sea is very warm: in summer the water heats up to +27 degrees, and in winter time water temperature – not less than +20.

There are different theories about how the Red Sea, which is located between Africa and Asia and represents the entrance to the Indian Ocean, received its name: biological, historical, biblical, geological, etc.

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Red algae

Algae Trichodesmium erythraeum

A popular hypothesis about the origin of the name of the Red Sea was formed by biologists. It lies in the fact that the Red Sea began to be called Red in connection with algae Trichodesmium erythraeum that grow near the water surface.

Seasonal proliferation of algae Trichodesmium erythraeum causes water blooms, turning it red.

The algae contains excessive amounts of a red pigment called phycoerythrin, and when it grows seasonally, it causes algal blooms, turning the light blue sea red-brown color. However, the red color from algae blooms is not intense and changes in large volumes of water. This natural phenomenon is rare, so other hypotheses for the origin of the name of the Red Sea are also being considered.

Eritrean Sea

The historical hypothesis about the appearance of the name of the Red Sea is that in ancient times the sea was called “Erythraean”, which came from the name of the founder of the city of Erythrae, King Erythra (ancient Greek erythros - red). This name was used by the ancient Greek scientist Herodotus (5th century BC), and later the ancient geographer Agatharchides (2nd century BC) described the reservoir in his work “On the Red Sea (Eritrean)”. Eritrea is a state in East Africa– located on the Red Sea coast.

Some researchers suggest that the Red Sea is named after the name of the Semitic people “Himyarites”, who during the 2nd millennium BC. e. – VI century n. e. inhabited sea ​​coast in South Arabia. Given name the tribe consisted of three consonants h, m, r, which the Arabs deciphered as ahmar (from Arabic - “red”).

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Reed Sea

The Red Sea parted for the prophet Moses and his people

The Red Sea is referred to in the Bible as the "Sea of ​​Reeds" through which the prophet Moses passed from Egypt to Israel. IN biblical history about the Exodus the sea parted and let Moses through and Jewish people, and then closed back and destroyed the Pharaoh’s army. Reeds and reeds do not grow on the Red Sea, so it is assumed that the name came from the reed beds in the Gulf of Suez. In the 16th century, the sea was also called Suez.

The RED SEA, a Mediterranean sea of ​​the Indian Ocean, is connected to it in its southern part through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north it is connected to the Mediterranean Sea through the Suez Canal. Located between the northeastern edge of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula in southwestern Asia. Area 460 thousand km 2, volume 201 thousand km 3. The greatest depth is 3039 m. The sea is significantly elongated from northwest to southeast (length 1932 km, width up to 306 km). The Red Sea, due to the narrow Bab el-Mandeb Strait, is the most isolated sea in the Indian Ocean. The shores are mostly flat, sandy, and rocky in places. The coastline is slightly indented; the eastern and western shores of the sea along their main length run almost parallel to each other. In the north there are two large elongated gulfs - the shallow Gulf of Suez and the deep-sea Aqaba, separated by the Sinai Peninsula. IN coastal zone numerous small islands and coral reefs, large islands in the northern part are rare, most are located in the south, where they form groups, the most significant of which are Dahlak and Farasan.

Relief and geological structure bottom. The bottom topography includes a shelf with numerous coral structures, a continental slope and a bed, which is almost entirely occupied by a narrow abyssal trough, elongated along the longitudinal axis of the sea and divided by a number of transform faults into separate deep-sea depressions that have received individual names (Albatross, Atlantis, Valdivia, Discovery, Oceanographer and others, about 20 in total). The width of the shelf in the northern part is from 1 to 20 km, gradually increasing to the south to 100 km or more. In the southernmost part of the sea, adjacent to the Babel-Mandeb Strait, the shelves on the opposite shores are separated only by a small trench about 200 m deep. The sedimentary cover of the shelf area is composed of Lower Miocene terrigenous and volcanic-sedimentary rocks with evaporite horizons (thickness 2-4 km), which overlain by Pliocene-Quaternary calcareous and silty-calcareous silts. The cover rests on fault-broken folded metamorphic rocks and granites of the African-Arabian platform. The underwater slopes of the Red Sea depression are ledges composed of continental rocks overlain by coral limestones. The bottom of the deep-sea basin of the Red Sea is divided into two parts according to morphology and structure: wide and flat northwestern (up to about 23° northern latitude) and a narrow and strongly dissected southeastern one. In the northwestern part, the bottom of the basin is occupied by a wide (about 100 km) accumulative plain, bordered by steps with steep mountains, the tops of which often form reefs, shoals, and islands. Within the lateral steps, the bottom is composed of horizontally lying or gently folded, mainly carbonate, sediments, which are underlain by a layer of limestone and evaporites. Sediments overlie a granite-metamorphic basement, which pinches out in the direction of the trough axis; in the same direction the thickness of the sedimentary layer decreases. The southeastern part of the basin is characterized by a large (2000-3000 m) depth, the presence of an axial trench complicated by numerous depressions, one of which is confined to greatest depth Red Sea. In the mid-1960s, in a number of depressions (Atlantis I, Discovery, Chain, etc.), bottom waters with very high temperatures (over 60 ° C) and salinity (over 260‰) were discovered - the so-called hot brines, according to chemical composition similar to relict brines from oil wells. The bottom of the depressions is lined with Pliocene-Quaternary metal-bearing silts with very high concentrations of compounds of iron, zinc, copper and other metals. Bottom sediments rest on basalts and basic igneous rocks of the dike complex (the second layer of the oceanic crust). In the southeastern part of the basin, modern underwater volcanism is observed, the heat flow is increased compared to the average level characteristic of the ocean floor; The epicenters of earthquakes are concentrated near the axial trench.

In geotectonic terms, the Red Sea depression is an intercontinental rift structure, which is a link in the East African Rift System and connects through the Gulf of Aden rift with the Arabian-Indian spreading ridge of the Indian Ocean. To the north, the Red Sea Rift continues into the Gulf of Aqaba and is connected by a regional strike-slip fault to the Dead Sea and Jordan Valley rift basin. In the rift zone of the Red Sea, starting from the late Miocene, new formation of the oceanic crust occurs, accompanied by the expansion of the seabed (spreading), as a result of which the Arabian Peninsula moves away from Africa and the opening of the ocean basin occurs. The rate of separation of lithospheric plates is estimated to be about 1-2 mm per year.

Climate. Climatic conditions The Red Sea is determined, first of all, by the fact that its basin belongs to one of the most pronounced arid regions of the Earth. The presence of deserts surrounding the sea in the northeastern part of Africa and Arabian Peninsula leads to the predominance of dry and hot weather here, characteristic of continental tropical climate. The main mechanism of weather formation is the regional system atmospheric circulation in the space surrounding the Red Sea, is determined by the presence of stationary and seasonal centers of atmospheric action: an anticyclone in northern Africa, the region low blood pressure in the central part of Africa and an alternating extremum atmospheric pressure over Central Asia.

Their interaction leads to the fact that for most of the year, north-northwest winds dominate over the entire Red Sea water area, and only south of 20° north latitude from October to April, during the winter Indian Ocean monsoon, do south-southeast winds prevail. Daily breezes are developed in coastal areas. Significant daily and seasonal fluctuations in air temperature are characteristic. The average daily temperature in midsummer in the north is about 27 °C, in the south about 33 °C, in winter 17 and 23 °C, respectively. Observed maximum temperature in the south it is about 47 °C, minimum temperature in the north - below 6 °C. Rainfall over the sea is extremely rare, the average annual number of days with precipitation is no more than 10. Precipitation is observed mainly in winter - from a few mm in the north to 200 mm in the south. With the exception of some areas, the average relative humidity does not exceed 70%. In some cases (during the action of the Khamsin and Samum desert winds), humidity can drop to 5%. The Red Sea is characterized by dust fogs and mirages. Evaporation from the sea surface due to the high average temperature and great dryness of the air is very significant - more than 200 cm/year, which far exceeds the corresponding figures for all other areas of the World Ocean located in the same latitudinal zone. The greatest frequency of clear skies averages 250 days a year. From May to October there are 20-28 days with minimal cloudiness, from November to April - 13-22.

Hydrological regime. Not a single river flows into the Red Sea. Only in the north, sometimes, after the passage of the next Mediterranean cyclone, the beds of dry rivers are filled with rainwater, flowing into the sea in the form of short-term turbid streams; river flow actually does not matter for the marine hydrological regime. Level fluctuations in the Red Sea are caused by the seasonal course of evaporation from its surface, tides, which are mainly semi-diurnal in nature, and surge phenomena under the influence of seasonal winds in the southern part of the basin. An increase in density also plays a small role sea ​​water due to its winter cooling. All these factors, to one degree or another, affect level fluctuations, but since the stability of the sea volume is largely regulated by water exchange with the Indian Ocean through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the resulting fluctuations in the average monthly water level for the sea as a whole are small, up to 30-35 cm. In the middle part of the sea, the spring tide is about 25 cm, in the extreme southern and northern regions- up to 1-1.5 m. Non-periodic surge level fluctuations are most significant in the northern parts of the Gulf of Suez and Aqaba and in the south in the bays of the Dahlak Islands, where amplitudes can exceed 1.5 m. Storms occur quite rarely and mainly in the north region.

Water circulation in the Red Sea is characterized by significant seasonal variability. In the southern part from November to March the surface current is directed north-northwest along east coast at a speed of about 50 cm/s. Currents prevail here from June to September opposite direction. In the summer, under the influence of the winds that dominate the entire water area, the transport of surface water towards the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait develops at a speed of 20-30 cm/s. In the central part of the sea, at 20-21° north latitude, under certain wind conditions, large-scale gyres are observed.

The hydrological structure of the sea is characterized by the presence of three main water masses. Top layer(0-150 m) is occupied by water with a relatively low salinity of Indian Ocean origin. Deeper (up to 300-350 m) lies the intermediate Red Sea water mass proper, formed in the north under the influence of winter vertical convection. Finally, the lower layer also represents a deep water mass formed in the north with high salinity (>40‰) and a constant temperature of about 20 °C. The average surface water temperature in winter ranges from 22 °C in the north to 26 °C in the south. In the central part of the sea in winter and spring, due to circulation patterns, an increase in water temperature up to 27 °C is observed. In summer average temperature surface water in the north is about 27 °C, and in the south it can exceed 32 °C. Small influx fresh water and intense evaporation from the sea surface lead to a significant increase in water salinity, which in the north reaches the highest value in the seas of the World Ocean (Gulf of Suez), 42‰; the lowest average salinity of surface water here is about 37‰. Its values ​​gradually decrease towards the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait. Water exchange through this strait plays an important role in the hydrological regime of the sea. The salty deep waters of the Red Sea flow through it into the Indian Ocean and spread at the depth of their density over large spaces. In turn, from the Gulf of Aden to the north, usually in winter period, there is a surface gradient and wind current, compensating for the decrease in the volume of sea water due to evaporation.

History of research. The sea apparently received its name from the presence of planktonic algae in it, which have a reddish tint during the flowering period. According to another version, this name was given under the impression of the reddish coastal mountains of the Sinai Peninsula, reflected on the water surface. The proximity of the Red Sea to the centers of ancient Afro-Asian civilizations made it famous many millennia ago. The sea has long served peoples North Africa and Arabia, an important transport artery through which their trade routes passed. Modern scientific research into the Red Sea actually began only in the 19th century, after European expeditions that explored the Indian Ocean visited it. One of the first among them to travel by sea after the creation of the Suez Canal in 1869 was the Russian round-the-world expedition on the Vityaz under the command of Captain 1st Rank S. O. Makarov and the German one on the Valdivia. From the Vityaz in March 1889, 4 oceanographic stations were carried out in the Red Sea to a depth of 600 m. The main studies that made it possible to obtain existing ideas about the nature and resources of the sea were carried out in the 20th century. Among them, special mention should be made of expeditions European countries and the USA during the International Geophysical Year (1957-58), the work of the International Indian Ocean Expedition (1960-1965). Several special oceanographic expeditions in the Red Sea in the 1960-80s were carried out by scientific vessels of the USSR. Particularly interesting were the results obtained by the expedition of the Institute of Oceanology of the Academy of Sciences named after P. P. Shirshov in 1979-80 using the Pisis underwater manned vehicles, from which for the first time visual observation of the surface of the brine layer, water sampling and geological survey of the bottom were carried out.

Economic use. The Red Sea is the most important transport route after the construction and commissioning of the Suez Canal. On the coasts of the Red Sea there are large modern ports that handle large flows of various cargo: Suez, Bur Safaga (Egypt), Port Sudan (Sudan), Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), Massawa (Eritrea), Hodeidah (Yemen), etc. Underwater Oil fields are being developed on the shelf of the northern part of the sea, in the Gulf of Suez (Egypt), several fields have been discovered on the southern shelf (Eritrea, Saudi Arabia). Phosphorite deposits developed in the Red Sea (Egypt) are of great economic importance. At the bottom of the rift zone, reserves of non-ferrous and noble metals. Fish production is gradually increasing and other seafood is being harvested - crustaceans, mollusks (mainly squid), etc. At the end of the 20th century, the tourism business developed rapidly, a network of seaside resorts of various classes was created on the coast of the northern part of the sea, the largest of which are Sharm-el- Sheikh, Hurghada (Egypt), Aqaba (Jordan), Eilat (Israel).

Ecological state. Active industrial and resort development of the coast and waters of the Red Sea, especially oil production and transportation, creates real threat security of its unique ecosystem. The most polluted areas of the sea are in its northern part, in the Gulf of Suez. Certain security and control measures marine environment undertaken by almost all coastal states. International conventions serious sanctions are provided against anthropogenic pollution of the Red Sea with household waste and oil products, which pose a particular danger here due to a large number transit transport ships.

Lit.: Kanaev V.F., Neiman V.G., Parin N.V. Indian Ocean. M., 1975; Monin A. S. et al. Immersion in brines of the Red Sea depressions // Reports of the USSR Academy of Sciences. 1980. T. 254. No. 4; Metalliferous sediments of the Red Sea / Edited by A. P. Lisitsyn, Yu. A. Bogdanov. M., 1986; Plakhin E. A. Hydrology Mediterranean seas. L., 1989; Red Sea. St. Petersburg, 1992.