Red Sea

Red Sea

Coordinates

22N 38ECoordinates:

22N 38E

Max. length 2,250 km (1,400 mi) Max. width 355 km (221 mi) Surface area 438,000 km2 (169,000 sq mi) Average depth 490 m (1,610 ft) Max. depth 2,211 m (7,254 ft) Water 233,000 km3 (56,000 cu mi) volume

The Red Sea (alternatively Arabian Gulf[1] or Gulf of Arabia[2][3]) is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez (leading to the Suez Canal). The Red Sea is a Global 200 ecoregion. The sea is underlain by the Red Sea Rift which is part of the Great Rift Valley.

The Red Sea has a surface area of roughly 438,000 km (169,100 mi).[4][5] It is about 2250 km (1398 mi) long and, at its widest point, 355 km (220.6 mi) wide. It has a maximum depth of 2211 m (7254 ft) in the central median trench, and an average depth of 490 m (1,608 ft). However, there are also extensive shallow shelves, noted for their marine life and corals. The sea is the habitat of over 1,000 invertebrate species, and 200 soft and hard corals. It is the world's northernmost tropical sea.

The name of the sea may signify the seasonal blooms of the red-coloured Trichodesmium erythraeum near the water's surface.[7]

Settlements and commercial centers in the vicinity of the Red Sea involved in the Spice trade, as described in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea. The Red Sea was favored for Roman trade with India starting with the reign of Augustus, when the Roman Empire gained control over the Mediterranean, Egypt, and the northern Red Sea. The route had been used by previous states but grew in the volume of traffic under the Romans. From Indian ports goods from China were introduced to the Roman world. Contact between Rome and China depended on the Red Sea, but the route was broken by the Aksumite Empire around the 3rd century AD.[12] During the Middle Ages, the Red Sea was an important part of the Spice trade route. In 1513, trying to secure that channel to Portugal, Afonso de Albuquerque laid siege to Aden. [13] but was forced to retreat. They cruised the Red Sea inside the Bab al-Mandab, as the first European fleet to have sailed this waters. The climate of the Red Sea is the result of two distinct monsoon seasons; a northeasterly monsoon and a southwesterly monsoon. Monsoon winds occur because of the differential heating between the land surface and sea. Very high surface temperatures coupled with high salinities makes this one of the hottest and saltiest bodies of seawater in the world.

The Red Sea was formed by Arabia splitting from Africa due to movement of the Red Sea Rift. This split started in the Eocene and accelerated during the Oligocene. The sea is still widening and it is considered that the sea will become an ocean in time The Red Sea is a rich and diverse ecosystem. More than 1200 species of fish[16] have been recorded in the Red Sea, and around 10% of these are found nowhere else.[17] This also includes 42 species of deepwater fish.[16]

Red Sea coral and marine fish