The Lisan Peninsula is a large spit of land that now separates the North and the South basins of the Dead Sea. Its name is Arabic for "tongue". The peninsula, located entirely within

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

ian territory, separates the northern section of the Dead Sea from its shallow southern part. The northern tip is labeled as Cape Costigan, in memory of Christopher Costigan, an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

explorer who perished in 1835 from heat and thirst after being stranded on the sea for days. He took the first known boat ride on the sea in modern times. The south-western tip is labeled as Cape Molyneux, in memory of

Thomas Howard Molyneux Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas t ...

, an officer in the British Royal Navy who explored the Dead Sea in August 1847 and perished following his return from the journey. The dried water strait between the Lisan and the western coast of the Dead Sea is named Lynch Strait, after

William Francis Lynch Captain William Francis Lynch (1 April 1801 – 17 October 1865) was a naval officer who served first in the United States Navy and later in the Confederate States Navy. Personal life William F. Lynch was born in Virginia. On 2 June 1828, on ...

who explored the Dead Sea area in 1848. Similarly to the nearby

Mount Sodom Mount Sodom ( he, הר סדום, ''Har Sedom'') is a hill along the southwestern part of the Dead Sea in Israel; it is part of the Judaean Desert Nature Reserve. It takes its name from the legendary city of Sodom, whose destruction is the subje ...

(Jebel Usdum), the peninsula is largely made up of white calcareous sediment containing beds of

salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quant ...

and

gypsum Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula . It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, blackboard or sidewalk chalk, and drywal ...

, rising to on its eastern side.

References

Landforms of Jordan Peninsulas of Asia {{Jordan-geo-stub

See also

References