The lowest point on the face of the earth, and one of the most spectacular natural and spiritual landscapes in the world.. Because the ions and isotopes present in the water of the Dead Sea crystallize in different ways, there is a diverse array of natural formations. Hard, light-white - gray-to-brownish crusts of gypsum (hydrated calcium sulphate) can be seen on the keels , on rocks.. Even mundane compounds such as calcium carbonate can take on a spectacular appearance when an increase in temperature, often at the end of summer, triggers mass precipitation; the result is a dramatic whitening of the water as snowy clouds of the compound slowly descend to the sea bed. Turbulence and wave motion prolong the deposition of the crystals and give the water a striking, nebulous quality.
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