The following is an encore presentation of Everything Everywhere Daily.

Divided between Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinian West Bank lies the lowest point on the surface of the Earth, the Dead Sea.

Not only is it the lowest point on Earth, but the sea is one of the saltiest bodies of water

on the planet.

But how did this place come to exist and is it true that it will completely

disappear at some point? Learn more about the Dead Sea and how it came to be

on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. daily. If you haven't been to the Dead Sea, it's a pretty incredible place for a whole host of reasons.

Let's start out with its claim to fame, being the lowest point on Earth.

The current elevation of the surface of the Dead Sea is approximately 432 meters below

sea level, or 1, 417 feet. I say approximately because the

Dead Sea is dropping in elevation rapidly. In the mid 1970s the elevation of the

Dead Sea was only 402 meters below sea level.

Currently, it's dropping over a meter or three feet each year, which is a really dramatic change in water level.

More on that in a bit.

So why does the Dead Sea exist?

What makes this place so far below sea level?

The most widely accepted theory among geologists is that the Dead Sea is part of the Red Sea

Rift. The Red Sea Rift is created from the African Tectonic Plate separating from the Arabian

Tectonic plate.

The most obvious result of the spreading is the Red Sea,

which is between Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

This is part of a larger feature which includes the East African rift.

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