[CAIRO, SciDev.Net] The Dead Sea — one of the world’s saltiest lakes — has long been facing a crisis of declining water levels. The researchers say it reveals a direct link between the seepage and the sudden appearance of sinkholes on the surface. The Dead Sea, which borders Jordan to the east and Israel and the West Bank to the west, has been receding for decades at a rate of more than one metre per year. Reducing risksThe research team carried out 195 field measurements over an area of 12 square kilometres in Ghor Al-Haditha, on the eastern shore of the Dead Sea in Jordan, producing accurate maps of the salt intrusion paths. Abdulmohsen and Sallam agree that what has been documented in the southern Dead Sea could have wider implications for the Arab region.