Evaluation of saturation vapor pressure over hypersaline water bodies at the southern edge of the dead sea, Jordan

Abstract

The activity coefficient and saturation vapor pressure for hypersaline solutions located at the southern edge of the Dead Sea are computed analytically. The collected data consist of temperature and evaporation rates measured for a freshwater pan and three other hypersaline solutions with specific gravities of 1.26, 1.31, and 1.34, respectively. The activity coefficients of the three saline pans were computed after accounting for the effect of buoyancy, which was included in the computations because of consistently large, positive virtual temperature differences between the saline pans and the ambient air. The ratios of saline to fresh pan evaporation ( Es Ef : the α ratio) of the present study are also compared to data reported for the Bonneville Salt Brines, Utah. It is found that the α ratios of the present study, although conducted over an extended period of time, are larger than those reported for the Bonneville Brines. Results of the present study imply that evaporation from the various brine-concentrated, shallow lakes at the southern edge of the Dead Sea is likely to proceed during the entire year, and water vapor deposition from the atmosphere, due to an inverted vapor pressure, is less likely to occur particularly for brines with specific gravities of less than 1.3.