Red Sea-Dead Sea Research Articles

Renewable energy scenarios for water desalination and conveyance: Case of red sea-dead sea project

The objective of the Jordan Red Sea-Dead Sea (RSDS) project is to transport desalinated water from the Gulf of Aqaba to the Dead Sea. It aims to resolve two fundamental issues in Jordan: the lack of potable water in the country's center and the low water level in the Dead Sea. Desalinated seawater should be pumped from the Gulf of Aqaba to the Dead Sea as part of the RSDS project.This study is not only the first study to focus on the feasibility of using renewable energy sources to meet the project's energy needs, but the approach taken in this research is also novel. It employs a variety of software packages in order to accomplish the research goals. Thus, a number of operational scenarios for the RSDS project employing renewable energy technologies, as these resources are essential for sustainable development, are proposed. Based on the availability of renewable energy sources in the project region, only solar and wind technologies are included in the technology selection process. The selection of a suitable technology from renewable energy technologies was based on eight scenarios that were developed using several selection criteria. The social, technical, environmental, risk evaluation, and financial impact scenarios were investigated. Analytic hierarchy process and multi-criteria decision analysis were utilized to evaluate the electricity generation options for the project. The results indicated that the economic scenario is the optimal scenario for covering the entire load. Levelized Cost Of Energy (LCOE) and payback period are sub-criteria for this scenario. The primary goal of this scenario is to cover the load with the lowest LCOE and shortest payback period possible. The results indicated that a 945 MW Photovoltaic plant and a 630 MW wind energy plant are required to cover the total loads for desalination and water pumping. Energy storage is essential in any scenario where renewable energy sources are used to meet demand. Electric vehicles are employed in this research as a kind of energy storage to lessen the demand for more traditional storage methods. The number of 85 kWh electric vehicles needed to replace traditional storage medium is estimated. It is determined that 53,614 and 57,584 electric vehicles in the 24 hour and 12 hour operating times, respectively, are required under the economic scenario.

Bringing the Dead Sea to Life: Art and Nature at the Lowest Place on Earth

Bringing the Dead Sea to Life: Art and Nature at the Lowest Place on Earth

DNA metabarcoding illustrates biological pollution threats of Red Sea - Dead Sea water conveyance to Dead Sea biodiversity

The Dead Sea has a hypersaline environment where only extremophile species like Archaea, Bacteria, and fungi can survive. The Red Sea-Dead Sea Water Conveyance (RDSC) is constructing a pipeline of 180 km to import water from the Red Sea in the shrinking Dead Sea. Both seas exhibit highly different hydrographic features that determine their biodiversity. Using environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding and amplifying a fragment of the cytochrome oxidase subunit I gene (COI) from water samples, we compared the communities of the Red Sea and the Dead Sea to understand the potential impact of the water conveyance project on biodiversity, following by an identification of potential biopollutants able to enter the Dead Sea for their small size. The results suggest a high likelihood of acquiring harmful algae into the Dead Sea. This study alerts about the real risk of losing the unique Dead Sea biota when the conveyance is actually undertaken.

The effect of phosphonate-based antiscalant on gypsum precipitation kinetics and habit in hyper-saline solutions: An experimental and modeling approach to the planned Red Sea – Dead Sea Project

The effect of phosphonate-based antiscalant on the precipitation kinetics of gypsum under the hyper-saline solutions relevant to the Red Sea-Dead Sea desalination project was studied. Batch experiments were carried out to determine the effect on the induction times and rates of nucleation and gypsum crystal growth. A wide range of ionic strength (5.5–9 m), pH (6.33–6.91) and oversaturation with respect to the mineral (1.69 ≤ Ωgypsum ≤ 2.11) were covered in the experiments.Induction times in solutions that contained the antiscalant were longer by about 20–500% compared to solutions with a similar composition that did not contain the antiscalant. In the presence of the antiscalant fewer crystals precipitated that were larger in size. The specific surface area of the crystals that precipitated in solutions that contained the antiscalant were smaller in about 20–500% than those that precipitated in solutions that did not contain the antiscalant, and the relative specific surface area was in agreement with the induction time. We conclude that increased interfacial tension in the presence of the antiscalant, retards nucleation and reduces the surface area available for growth. Subsequent rates of crystal growth were impervious to the presence of the antiscalant.

Techno-Economic Feasibility Study of a Hypersaline Pressure-Retarded Osmosis Power Plants: Dead Sea–Red Sea Conveyor

In this study, three pressure retarded osmosis (PRO) power plants are proposed to be built on the Red Sea–Dead Sea (RSDS) water conveyance project, to generate power from the salinity gradient between two water streams at different salt concentrations. The first two proposed plants are to be built after sea water reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination plants, where Red Sea water and the rejected brine from SWRO plants are used as feed and draw solutions, respectively. In the third proposed plant, Red Sea water and Dead Sea water will be used. Results showed that the three proposed plants are technically feasible while the third plant is the only one that is economically feasible with a 134.5 MW capacity and a 0.056 $/KWh levelized cost of electricity (LCE). The power generated from the third PRO power plant accounts for about 24.7% of the power needed for the RSDS project that can be used to power SWRO-2 in order to reduce the electricity consumption by 49.3%. If the generated power from the proposed PRO plant is sold to the Jordanian national electricity grid at the current selling price in accordance with Jordanian prices of electricity, a saving of about 21.2% can be attained. It is found that using the power generated by the current proposed plants for desalination project purposes will significantly reduce the price of desalinated water produced from SWRO desalination plants.

Non-hydrostatic effects in the Dead Sea

Abstract The Dead Sea is the saltiest and lowest terminal lake in the world. For at least three decades, the Dead Sea's water level has been dropping by more than 1 m per year, due to excessive use of the water that previously flowed into it. The Dead Sea constitutes a unique environment and is important from economic, environmental, and touristic points of view. The winter deep convection of the Dead Sea and its deep and narrow basin suggest that non-hydrostatic effects may significantly affect its circulation. Despite these factors, the expected non-hydrostatic effects on the circulation of the Dead Sea have not been investigated. Here we perform high resolution (100 m) ocean general circulation model (the MITgcm) simulations of the Dead Sea and show that the non-hydrostatic results are very different from the hydrostatic ones. Specifically, we show that the winter non-hydrostatic simulations resulted in a layer of dense water overlaying slightly lighter water during the several last hours of the night; this convection process involved plumes of heavier sinking water and the entrainment of the plumes. We also studied the effect of the wind stress's diurnal variability and found it to be important, especially during the summer when the wind's variability drastically increased the surface kinetic energy; however, it did not alter the depth density profile. The results presented here may be important for the Dead Sea's potash industry and for the planned Red Sea-Dead Sea canal that aims to stop and, possibly, to increase the level of the Dead Sea using the Red Sea's water.

A preliminary solar-hydrogen system for Jordan: Impacts assessment and scenarios analysis

Energy sector in Jordan faces serious challenges today. Jordan as a non-oil country depends by 96% on imported fuel to cover its demands. The present work seeks to improve an alternative fuel that can support the goals of National Energy Strategy in Jordan. Therefore; a mathematical model was developed to investigate the possibility of producing solar-hydrogen fuel in Jordan. Ma'an city was chosen to be the location of solar-hydrogen plant. The high solar insulation and the availability to supply the plant with water from Aqaba Gulf directly and/or from Red-Sea Dead-Sea Cannel make Ma'an the suitable location for the plant. A system with photovoltaic (PV) cell array and proton electron membrane (PEM) electrolyzer was suggested to be the connection system for the plant. Accordingly, two different scenarios were proposed for hydrogen production with different hydrogen production doubling time, the first scenario is θh1=2+0.15(n−1) year, while the second scenario is θh2=4+0.15(n−1) year. Eight different economic, social, and environmental parameters, which directly affect solar-hydrogen production, were evaluated and investigated for Jordan up to year 2060. Accordingly, the research study concluded that solar-hydrogen fuel can potentially offer a good option as an alternative fuel for Jordan. Starting the production at year of 2020 can provide a good sharing in energy demand sector by the end of the year 2060.

Synoptic conditions of fine-particle transport to the last interglacial Red Sea-Dead Sea from Nd-Sr compositions of sediment cores

The sediments deposited at the depocenter of the Dead Sea comprise high-resolution archive of hydrological changes in the lake's watershed and record the desert dust transport to the region. This paper reconstructs the dust transport to the region during the termination of glacial Marine Isotope Stage 6 (MIS 6; ∼135–129 ka) and the last interglacial peak period (MIS5e, ∼129–116 ka). We use chemical and Nd and Sr isotope compositions of fine detritus material recovered from sediment core drilled at the deepest floor of the Dead Sea. The data is integrated with data achieved from cores drilled at the floor of the Red Sea, thus, forming a Red Sea-Dead Sea transect extending from the desert belt to the Mediterranean climate zone. The Dead Sea accumulated flood sediments derived from three regional surface cover types: settled desert dust, mountain loess-soils and loess-soils filling valleys in the Dead Sea watershed termed here “Valley Loess”. The Valley Loess shows a distinct 87Sr/86Sr ratio of 0.7081 ± 1, inherited from dissolved detrital calcites that originate from dried waterbodies in the Sahara and are transported with the dust to the entire transect.Our hydro-climate and synoptic conditions reconstruction illustrates the following history: During glacial period MIS6, Mediterranean cyclones governed the transport of Saharan dust and rains to the Dead Sea watershed, driving the development of both mountain soils and Valley Loess. Then, at Heinrich event 11, dry western winds blew Saharan dust over the entire Red Sea - Dead Sea transect marking latitudinal expansion of the desert belt. Later, when global sea-level rose, the Dead Sea watershed went through extreme aridity, the lake retreated, depositing salt and accumulating fine detritus of the Valley Loess. During peak interglacial MIS 5e, enhanced flooding activity flushed the mountain soils and fine detritus from all around the Dead Sea and Red Sea, marking a significant “contraction” of the desert belt. At the end of MIS 5e the effect of the regional precipitation diminished and the Dead Sea and Red Sea areas re-entered sever arid conditions with extensive salt deposition at the Dead Sea.

The Morphology of Gypsum Precipitated Under Hyper-saline Conditions – Preliminary Results from Dead Sea - Red Sea Mixtures

Solutions of different chemical compositions will precipitate gypsum crystals with different morphology. The dependence of gypsum morphology on the chemical composition can therefore be a tool for interpreting the paleo-chemistry and environments of solutions from which gypsum in the geological record precipitated. In addition, the morphology of the gypsum that will precipitate in the Dead Sea once the Red Sea-Dead Sea conduit is built will determine if the crystals will remain in suspension in the surface brine, thereby leading to “whitening” of the lake. Despite its importance, little is known about the impact of the different parameters on the morphology of gypsum precipitated from natural brines. In the present study we conducted single point batch experiments with mixtures of Dead Sea - Red Sea brines and utilized image processing techniques to study the morphology of the gypsum that precipitated from different solution compositions at different degrees of oversaturation. The results from the first data set towards the understanding of what controls the morphology of gypsum while providing a preliminary tool for the forecast of the future of the Dead Sea are presented here.

Tourism development challenges on the Dead Sea shore

Abstract The Dead Sea along with Jerusalem belongs to one of the most well-known spots visited by tourists in Israel. Because of many factors, such as the water level of the Dead Sea at a depth of 430 m b.s.l. (in 2015), average salinity of 26%, hot springs and many healing salts located there, it is a unique tourist attraction on a global level. Its attractiveness is heightened by its proximity to other sites of interest, such as the Jewish fortress at Masada, Jericho, Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, as well as Petra, Madaba and Al-Karak on the Jordanian side of the Dead Sea. High salinity and a microclimate create perfect conditions for the development of health resorts and medical tourism. Extracting healing salts from its waters for the needs of the chemical industry is important for both the economy and medical tourism. However, as a consequence of the agricultural and urban use of the waters of the River Jordan, which flows into the Dead Sea, a persistent decrease in the lake water level has been observed over the last century. This has created a number of economic and political issues. The problems which still have to be resolved are associated with the Red Sea-Dead Sea Conduit (Canal), the division of Jordan’s water resources, conservation of the unique reservoir of the Dead Sea and the threat of hindering the development of tourism within the region. The presentation of these issues is the main aim of this research paper. The study is based on the analysis of changes in tourism flows, results of research studies and the prognosis of changes in the water level of the Dead Sea. It presents an assessment of the effects of this phenomenon on the tourist economy. At the current level of tourism flows within the region, the tourist capacity of local beaches will be exceeded in areas where the most popular tourist resorts are located. Increased expenditure on development of tourism infrastructure in the coastal zone can also be observed. The predicted decreasing water level will result in further modifications and expansion of tourism infrastructure, decreased accessibility to the coastline for tourists, increased costs of visiting and may lead to an ecological disaster.

Salt dissolution and sinkhole formation: Results of laboratory experiments

The accepted mechanism for the formation of thousands of sinkholes along the coast of the Dead Sea suggests that their primary cause is dissolution of a salt layer by groundwater undersaturated with respect to halite. This is related to the drop in the Dead Sea level, which caused a corresponding drop of the freshwater-saltwater interface, resulting in fresher groundwater replacing the brines that were in contact with the salt layer. In this study we used physical laboratory experiments to examine the validity of this mechanism by reproducing the full dynamic natural process and to examine the impact of different hydrogeological characteristics on this process. The experimental results show surface subsidence and sinkhole formation. The stratigraphic configurations of the aquifer, together with the mechanical properties of the salt layer, determine the dynamic patterns of the sinkhole formation (instantaneous versus gradual formation). Laboratory experiments were also used to study the potential impact of future stratification in the Dead Sea, if and when the “Red Sea-Dead Sea Canal” project is carried out, and the Dead Sea level remains stable. The results show that the dissolution rates are slower by 1 order of magnitude in comparison with a nonstratified saltwater body, and therefore, the processes of salt dissolution and sinkhole formation will be relatively restrained under these conditions.

Technical Solutions to Avoid Water Conflicts: The Red Sea-Dead Sea Canal Project

Abstract On 9 December 2013, Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at the World Bank Headquarters in Washington. This deal aims to develop a desalination plant in Aqaba, Jordan's port on the Red Sea in order to produce water which will be shared between Israel and Jordan. The project can be considered as a 'pilot scheme', or even as the first stage, of a potential Red-Dead project to test the environmental impact of adding a mix of the Red Sea water and desalination byproduct to the Dead Sea. This article aims to describe the Red Sea-Dead Sea Conveyance Project (RSDSCP), considering the ongoing debate about its possible environmental impacts and trying to identify the real goals that are driving interested parties to undertake so costly and risky a mega-project. To do so, it is necessary to consider the hydrological characteristics of the region and, above all, to take a step back in history to reconstruct the hydropolitical processes that have taken place since the defeat of the Ottoman Empire during the World War I. Possible alternatives to the project that could be more efficient from a socio-economic and environmental point of view will also be outlined.

Freshwater scarcity, interdependence and institutionalism in Jordanian foreign policy: towards conflict or cooperation?

One of the most pressing security and development challenges faced by Jordan and other states in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is freshwater scarcity. Jordan, like all but two states in the region (Turkey and Iran), does not have access to sufficient amounts of renewable freshwater. International conflicts, in the forms of disagreements, disputes and violent conflict over this resource have emerged as very real aspects of the international relations of this region. Cooperation between states over shared resources has also emerged, however, and this paper seeks to explore the prospects for further cooperation by considering the importance of interdependence and international institutions in relation to freshwater scarcity issues in Jordan's relations with Israel and Syria. Drawing upon theories of resource scarcity and institutionalism this paper explores if levels of economic interdependence and engagement in international institutions have impacted bilateral cooperation between Jordan and its neighbours. Jordan represents a good case study in order to better understand the issue of freshwater scarcity, conflict and cooperation for other states in the region. By examining two key international projects (the Jordanian-Syrian project to build the Wehdeh Dam on the Yarmouk River and the Jordanian-Israeli(-Palestinian) project to build the Red Sea-Dead Sea Conduit project on their shared border) this paper finds that levels of bilateral economic interdependence and institutional engagement can impact the potential for bilateral cooperation in the management of shared freshwater sources.

Microbial and Chemical Characterization of Underwater Fresh Water Springs in the Dead Sea

Due to its extreme salinity and high Mg concentration the Dead Sea is characterized by a very low density of cells most of which are Archaea. We discovered several underwater fresh to brackish water springs in the Dead Sea harboring dense microbial communities. We provide the first characterization of these communities, discuss their possible origin, hydrochemical environment, energetic resources and the putative biogeochemical pathways they are mediating. Pyrosequencing of the 16S rRNA gene and community fingerprinting methods showed that the spring community originates from the Dead Sea sediments and not from the aquifer. Furthermore, it suggested that there is a dense Archaeal community in the shoreline pore water of the lake. Sequences of bacterial sulfate reducers, nitrifiers iron oxidizers and iron reducers were identified as well. Analysis of white and green biofilms suggested that sulfide oxidation through chemolitotrophy and phototrophy is highly significant. Hyperspectral analysis showed a tight association between abundant green sulfur bacteria and cyanobacteria in the green biofilms. Together, our findings show that the Dead Sea floor harbors diverse microbial communities, part of which is not known from other hypersaline environments. Analysis of the water’s chemistry shows evidence of microbial activity along the path and suggests that the springs supply nitrogen, phosphorus and organic matter to the microbial communities in the Dead Sea. The underwater springs are a newly recognized water source for the Dead Sea. Their input of microorganisms and nutrients needs to be considered in the assessment of possible impact of dilution events of the lake surface waters, such as those that will occur in the future due to the intended establishment of the Red Sea−Dead Sea water conduit.

Raising the Dead without a Red Sea-Dead Sea project? Hydro-economics and governance

Abstract. Seven decades of extractions have dramatically reduced Jordan River flows, lowered the Dead Sea level, opened sink holes, and caused other environmental problems. The fix Jordan, Israel, and the Palestinians propose would build an expensive multipurpose conveyance project from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea that would also generate hydropower and desalinate water. This paper compares the Red-Dead project to alternatives that may also raise the Dead Sea level. Hydro-economic model results for the Jordan-Israel-Palestinian inter-tied water systems show two restoration alternatives are more economically viable than the proposed Red-Dead project. Many decentralized new supply, wastewater reuse, conveyance, conservation, and leak reduction projects and programs in each country can together increase economic benefits and reliably deliver up to 900 MCM yr−1 to the Dead Sea. Similarly, a smaller Red-Dead project that only generates hydropower can deliver large flows to the Dead Sea when the sale price of generated electricity is sufficiently high. However, for all restoration options, net benefits fall and water scarcity rises as flows to the Dead Sea increase. This finding suggests (i) each country has no individual incentive to return water to the Dead Sea, and (ii) outside institutions that seek to raise the Dead must also offer countries direct incentives to deliver water to the Sea besides building the countries new infrastructure.

Developing Water and Marginalising Israel/Palestinian Peace: A Critical Examination of the Red Sea-Dead Sea Canal Feasibility Study Process

Efforts to ‘save’ the Dead Sea have been globalised through the Red Sea-Dead Sea Canal feasibility study process facilitated by the World Bank. In claiming a ‘peace dividend’ as one ‘intangible benefit’ of programme development and problem solving, the canal initiative has established the relevance of peace discourse as a basis for critiquing the process. This article critically examines phase one of the feasibility study process and its implications for regional peacebuilding in the light of a claimed ‘peace dividend’, assessing the practices of regional integration, knowledge construction and stakeholder participation.1

Isotopic indicators of deformation in the Red Sea

Palaeostress analysis of spreading oceanic ridges requires data on extension over time and at different locations along strike so that mechanical models can be formulated and tested. The seafloor palaeomagnetic record provides average spreading rates but as the last (normal) chron measures 790,000 years an alternative method is required for identifying episodes of spreading at time scales of <10 3 yr which can be fused with seismic and geodetic sequences. On the assumption that the level of hydrothermal circulation on the sea floor is linked with tectonic activity, palaeotemperature and geochemical changes in the seawater determined from cores of the sea floor sediments should serve as proxies for episodes of extension provided they can be dated and alternative explanations for them ruled out. The Red Sea provides a study area for evaluating this proposal because it is a marginal sea with a shallow threshold which limits mixing with the open ocean especially during periods of low sea level, it receives little runoff from the arid lands that surround it, and its median ridge is hydrothermally active. Chemical evidence has been reported for two broadly synchronous late Quaternary hydrothermal episodes in the Atlantis II and Thetis deeps; 87Sr/ 86Sr ratios in the Atlantis II deep are thought to reflect variations in hydrothermal activity. Published δ 13C and δ 18O data from cores both within brine pools and outside them indicate fluctuations during the Holocene for which no climatic counterparts on bordering land areas or in the Arabian Sea are documented; moreover our study has revealed a major (positive) δ 18O excursion older than 40,000 yr in Globigerinoides ruber in Core CH10003-3 PC at a depth of 1374 m which is not associated with hardgrounds or a δ 13C fluctuation and which may have resulted from a hydrothermal pulse. There is no such signal in the core for events of magnitude up to 8.3 that are recorded in the palaeoseismic record of the last 50,000 yr in the Lisan Marls, which suggests that the δ 18O pulse from Core CH10003-3 corresponded with an event of M>8.3 in the RedSea-Dead Sea rift system Other isotopes may prove to be more sensitive and therefore responsive to smaller deformation.

Desalination in israel: emerging key component in the regional water balance formula

As a result of rapid population growth, Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian entity are experiencing a worsening water shortage, which, unless properly addressed., threatens to cripple their future development. Thirty-year projections of water demand indicate that even if all marginal water resources were to be effectively utilized and conservation measures fully implemented, chronic shortages will be deferred only 10–5 years. Conservation by restructuring sectoral water use through economic policy is impeded by the ideological primacy of agriculture, commitment to food self-sufficiency, and prospects of social and political destabilization. Importation of water by short land conveyances can provide only near-term solutions, while most long-distance, inter-basinal transfers are impractical because of a combination of economic, political and water rights issues. Marine conveyance, though attractive on paper, is as yet an unproven concept. Desalination of Mediterranean or Gulf of Eilat (Aqaba) seawater will satisfy future water demands and guarantee security of supply through joint management. The latest notions of “Two-Seas” (Mediterranean Sea-Dead Sea and Red Sea-Dead Sea) desalination schemes envision fueling by hydropower and/or solar energy, the co-generation of electricity, and aquacultural and tourist spin-offs. An alternative scheme proposes a jointly-managed Israeli-Egyptian (and possibly Palestinian) plant, to be located on the southern Mediterranean coast, that would be powered either by coal or by gas piped from the Suez fields. This study explores the relative merits of the proposed desalination schemes. The estimated costs of producing desalined seawater are about two to three times the average cost of water from conventional sources. However, fossil and renewable energy cost trends, introduction of innovative power generating technologies, and economies of size may all combine to reduce desalination costs 15–25% by the beginning of the next decade. The predicted higher costs of desalinated seawater will limit its use to satisfy domestic needs and to raising high value-added crops. Massive desalination would also facilitate the redistribution of disputed water resources, boost the regional industrial capacity by co-generating clean energy, and expand the recreational potential of the region. The regional cooperation necessitated by the need to pool financial resources and ensure optimal water allocation between Israel and some of its neighbors heralds the potential of making water in this troubled area of the Middle East a catalyst for peace, rather than a subject of protracted conflict.