Depression is a way of relief which has a lower altitude than the other landforms around it. These recessed areas in relation to the terrain that surround them originate from sinkings of tectonic origin or from continuous erosive wear.
Classification of depressions
- relative depression – are the landforms that are lower than the surrounding areas, however, they are not at an altitude below sea level. See an example in the image below:
The relative depression has recessed areas in relation to the surrounding relief, but they are above sea level.
The image above shows a depression formed by processes erosive. The river carved the lowered areas through weathering and the transport of materials. This type of depression is more frequent on land with an old geological structure.
- absolute depression – are those that, in addition to having lower terrain than neighboring areas, have an altitude below sea level.
Dead Sea: the deepest absolute depression of the emerged lands
The Dead Sea, located in the Asia
, is the lowest altitude area of the emerged lands. It is 422 meters below sea level. It is a large lake that borders Israel, Jordan and the West Bank and attracts thousands of tourists every year.O Dead Sea gets its name because the very high amount of salt in its water makes it impossible to maintain species of living beings.
Below is a satellite image of this deep absolute depression:
The Dead Sea is a depression of the absolute type. It is located on the Asian continent and is an important tourist spot.*
* Image extracted from Google Maps
By Amarolina Ribeiro
Graduated in Geography
