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Conshelf II in the Red Sea
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The Red Sea (Arabic البحر الأحمر Bahr al-Ahmar, al-Bahru l-’Amar;
Hebrew ים סוף Yam Suf; Tigrigna (baHri) is a gulf or basin of
the Indian Ocean between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is
in the south through the Bab el Mandeb sound and the Gulf of Aden. In the
north is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba and the Gulf of Suez
(leading to the Suez Canal).
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The sea is roughly 1900 km long and at its widest is over
300 km. The sea floor has a maximum depth of 2,500 m in the central median
trench and an average depth of 500 m, but it also has extensive shallow
shelves, noted for their marine life and corals. The sea has a surface area
of roughly 438,000 or 450,000 km˛. The sea is the habitat of over 1000
invertebrate species and 200 soft and hard corals. The sea occupies a part
of the Great Rift Valley. |
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The sea was called the "Arabian Gulf" in most European
sources up to the 20th century. This was derived from older
Greek sources.
Herodotus, Straban and
Ptolemy all call the waterway "Arabicus Sinus", while
reserving the term "Sea of Erythrias" or the modern term
(Red Sea) for the waters around the
southern Arabian Peninsula, now known as Indian Ocean.
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The name of the sea does not indicate a real red colour,
as the seawater is actually blue when viewed afar, and transparent when
held in hand. It may signify the seasonal blooms of the red-coloured cyan
bacteria Trichodesmium erythraeum near the water surface. Some suggest
that it refers to the mineral-rich red mountains nearby, which are indeed
called ("Mounts of the
Edomites" or "the Rubi
mountains") in Hebrew language. There is also speculation that the name
Red Sea came from a mistranslation of what should have been the Reed Sea. |
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