Levantine Sea

The Levantine Sea is the easternmost section of the Mediterranean Sea. It serves as a vital maritime region where several continents and landmasses meet. This sea is bordered by Turkey to the north and the northeast. To the east, the coastline includes Syria, Lebanon, and Israel and Palestine. Egypt forms the southern border of this area. In the northwest, the Levantine Sea connects to the Aegean Sea. Because its western border is not always clearly defined, people often just call the whole area the Mediterranean. However, a specific line can define the western edge. This line runs from the Ras al-Helal headland in Libya to the Greek island of Gavdos, which sits south of Crete.

The sea contains several distinct underwater features and sub-regions. The largest island within this part of the Mediterranean is Cyprus. In the north, the waters between Cyprus and Turkey are known as the Cilician Sea. There are also two large bays located in the northern part of the sea. These are the Gulf of İskenderun in the northeast and the Gulf of Antalya in the northwest. The seafloor is not flat; it contains deep areas called basins. The Leviathan gas field is located in the southeastern Levantine Basin. Moving west, you find the Levantine Deep Marine Basin. Next is the Nile Delta Basin, followed by the Herodotus Basin. The deepest point in the entire sea is the Pliny Trench, located south of Crete.

Scientists find the Herodotus Basin particularly fascinating due to its age. This basin may contain the oldest known ocean crust in the entire world. Researchers believe this crust could be approximately 340 million years old. This makes the area a significant site for studying the history of our planet's oceans. The sea also contains the Bitter Lakes. These are natural lakes that are hypersaline, meaning they have very high salt levels. These lakes once acted as a barrier to certain types of marine life. Now, the salt levels in these lakes have changed significantly.

A major historical event changed the biology of the sea in 1869. This was the completion of the Suez Canal. The canal was built to link the Levantine Sea to the Red Sea. It was designed mainly to allow large vessels to pass through. Because the Red Sea sits at a slightly higher level than the eastern Mediterranean, water flows through the canal. This creates an intermittent tidal strait that discharges water into the Mediterranean. This movement allows for a process called Lessepsian migration. This term is named after Ferdinand de Lesseps, the chief engineer of the canal. This migration refers to the movement of species from the Red Sea into the Mediterranean.

For many decades, the high salinity of the Bitter Lakes prevented Red Sea species from moving north. However, the salinity of these lakes has now virtually equalized with that of the Red Sea. This change removed the biological barrier. As a result, plants and animals from the Red Sea have begun to colonize the eastern Mediterranean. This shift in species is a direct result of human engineering and changing water chemistry. It shows how a man-made structure can alter an entire regional ecosystem over time.

The Nile River also plays a massive role in the sea's environment. Most of the river's discharge enters this sea. In the 1960s, the Aswan High Dam was built across the Nile in Egypt. This dam was constructed to help increase Egyptian agriculture and support a growing population. While the dam is helpful for people, it changed the river's impact on the sea. The dam reduces the flow of freshwater into the Mediterranean. It also reduces the amount of mountainous minerals found in the silt. Additionally, the silt does not travel as far as it did before the dam was built.

These changes in the Nile's flow have shifted the sea's chemistry. The Levantine Sea has become slightly saltier and has fewer nutrients than it did in the past. This environmental shift has had specific effects on local wildlife. For instance, the reduction in nutrients and silt has decimated the morning sardine litorine haul in fishing nets. However, these same conditions have favored many species arriving from the Red Sea. The interplay between the Nile's freshwater, the Suez Canal's salt water, and the existing Mediterranean water creates a complex and constantly changing environment. This makes the Levantine Sea a unique study in how geography and engineering interact.