Which of the following is a landlocked Salt Lake in South-West Asia between Israel and Jordan?
- (a)Don Juan Pond
- (b)Dead Sea
- (c)Caspian Sea
- (d)Aral Sea
Answer
Why
Correct — B. The Dead Sea is a landlocked salt lake in South-West Asia, with Israel and the West Bank on its western shore and Jordan on its eastern shore.
The River Jordan flows in and nothing flows out, so evaporation in a desert climate concentrates the salts — about 340 grams per litre, close to ten times ordinary sea water.
Every term in the stem — landlocked, salt lake, between Israel and Jordan — lands on option (b).
Why the others are wrong
- (a)Don Juan Pond — The Don Juan Pond is a hypersaline pond in Antarctica, not South-West Asia. It is often cited as the saltiest water body on Earth, which is why it appears here as bait.
- (c)Caspian Sea — The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland water body, ringed by Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Iran and Azerbaijan — far to the north-east, and only mildly brackish.
- (d)Aral Sea — The Aral Sea lies between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in Central Asia and is known for shrinking after its feeder rivers were diverted for irrigation.
Concept
A lake turns saline when it has inflow but no outflow. Water leaves only by evaporation, and every dissolved salt the rivers carried in stays behind.
The Dead Sea is the textbook case: fed by the Jordan, closed at the bottom of a rift valley, and sitting at the lowest land elevation on Earth, roughly 430 metres below sea level.
The resulting density is high enough for a swimmer to float unaided, and the lake's level has been falling as Jordan water is drawn off upstream.
The stem says South-West Asia, which is the region also called West Asia or the Middle East — the Caspian and Aral seas sit outside it, in Central Asia and the Caucasus belt.
Key facts
- The Dead Sea lies between Israel and the West Bank on the west and Jordan on the east.
- Its shore is the lowest land elevation on Earth, about 430 metres below sea level.
- The River Jordan flows into it and no river flows out, so salts concentrate by evaporation.
- Its salinity is roughly 340 grams per litre, close to ten times that of ordinary sea water.
Study next
Common traps
- Choosing the Caspian Sea because the word sea suggests salt water.
- Picking Don Juan Pond on the strength of its salinity record while ignoring the region named in the stem.
Salinity and inland-lake items come back with the same short list of names, sometimes asking for the number instead of the place.
Also asked 23 Sep 2024, 16:00, GA Q9 (the Dead Sea's salinity per litre of water).
Related PYQs
No directly related past PYQ was found.