Is there truly a crimson color to the Red Sea?

 




The blooms created by the large algae in the Red Sea are whence the sea got its name.

The Red Sea appears as a blue line in satellite photographs. These images run roughly from north to south along the edge of the African continent's northeastern corner. The sea is known by its common name, but its water is a bright blue color, which contrasts sharply with the dull brown color of the countryside surrounding it. It would appear that the name "Red Sea" is entirely misleading.

So, how did the Red Sea get its well-known name in the first place?

Karine Kleinhaus, an associate professor of marine and atmospheric sciences at Stony Brook University in New York, said, "I don't think anyone knows for sure how it got its name." But, she continued, the explanation might have something to do with algae-specifically, Trichodesmium erythraeum. She said this: According to the NASA Earth Observatory, a type of cyanobacteria that belongs to the blue-green algae group and is sometimes referred to as "sea sawdust" is the organism responsible for between 60 and 80 percent of the nitrogen conversion that occurs in the ocean. Cyanobacteria are bacteria that live in aquatic environments and survive through photosynthesis.

T. erythraeum is widespread and can be found in many of the world's oceans that are classified as tropical or subtropical. It can be found in great abundance in the Red Sea, which is also prone to experiencing periodic blooms, which are caused when there is a significant increase in the population; when the algae die off, the color of the water changes to a reddish-brown hue because the dying algae cover the surface of the sea.

According to Kleinhaus, it's likely that the Red Sea got its name from the red mountains that flank some of its shorelines, such as along the coast of Jordan. However, it's also possible that the Red Sea got its name from something else.

However, the name of the Red Sea is not the only thing that distinguishes it. According to Kleinhaus, "the Red Sea is a hotspot of biodiversity with many endemic animals that are found nowhere else in the world except in the Red Sea or the Gulf of Aden."

The Red Sea, also known as Al-Bahr Al-Ahmar in Arabic, is characterized by its length and narrowness. It is located between the Arabian Peninsula and the northeastern coast of Africa. It is approximately 1,200 miles (1,930 kilometers) long and connects with the Indian Ocean after stretching from the Gulf of Suez in the north to the Gulf of Aden in the south. The Red Sea has a maximum width of 190 miles (305 kilometers) and a maximum depth of 9,974 feet, as stated by Britannica (3,040 meters). It has a territory of around 174,000 square miles (450,000 square km).

Coral reefs in the Red Sea are among the world's most prolonged and continuous reef systems. It has 2,485 miles (4,000 km) and is home to a varied and abundant assortment of marine species. According to Kleinhaus, the reef's singular qualities make it one of the only marine refuges in the world that is safe from the effects of climate change.

According to Kleinhaus, "the only corals that made it there towards the end of the last ice age were those that could survive very high temperatures and salt." This is because of the conditions in the Red Sea at the time the corals made their way into the region. "As a result, they are currently surviving at temperatures significantly lower than their maximums. It is anticipated that they will be one of the few coral reefs to make it through this century."

According to Kleinhaus, the Red Sea is one of the youngest bodies of water in the world and was created when two tectonic plates, namely the Arabian Plate and the African Plate, broke apart and pushed their way apart. She said, "they are still drifting apart from each other, so it is a developing sea."

 

 

Article source :  https://www.livescience.com/32112-is-the-red-sea-really-red.html

Image source  : https://pixabay.com/id/photos/mengirimkan-strom-laut-malam-2202910/

Is the Red Sea colored red?

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