Elyse Heath, age 13 of Biloxi, Miss., for her question:

WHY DO THEY CALL IT THE 'DEAD SEA?'

In the Middle Ages, travelers reported that no birds flew over the Dead Sea because the air there was poisonous. The sea's ominous name came about because early people from the area thought that it was deadly. The sea was mentioned as the Salt Sea in the Bible.

We know now that birds avoid the Dead Sea because no fish are in it, and little plant life can grow in it because of the saltiness of the water. The air is not poisonous.

The Dead Sea is the saltiest body of water in the world. It is located at the mouth of the River Jordan and forms part of the border  between Israel and Jordan.

The Dead Sea is nine times as salty as the ocean. It lies at the bottom of the deepest fault or break in the earth's crust. It is 1,299 feet below the level of the Mediterranean Sea.

The greatest depth of the Dead Sea is 1,297 feet. It is about 50 miles long and 10 miles wide, and covers 405 square miles. Rivers pour almost five million tons of fresh water into the Dead Sea daily. But this fresh water evaporates in the extreme heat in the Dead Sea basin. Thus, the level of the water changes very little and the sea never grows less salty. It contains about 24 percent solid matter, mostly common salt.