end of Year Geography Quiz, Question 21:

[gh]

21. The surface levels of at least three of the world's seas are below sea level. Name them.


(and then we can degenerate into an argument over when a lake becomes a sea? :-) )

[cullman]

Caspian, Galilee and Dead Sea which are all lakes...but what the hey. :P

cman

[mcgato]

I'm guessing that ones near the poles would be below sea level due to the bulging earth, thus I'll guess North Sea for one.

[Marlow]

Re: end of Year Geography Quiz, Question 21:

21. The surface levels of at least three of the world's seas are below sea level. Name them.

The best answer is: The Atlantic Ocean
which is 8 inches lower than the Pacific Ocean (at the Panama Canal)!!!

[gh]

21. There's a little semantics at work here because the Sea of Galilee (92 feet below sea level) and the Dead Sea (1,378 feet below sea level) are often classified as lakes, and so, too, occasionally, is the Caspian Sea (92 feet below sea level).

[lonewolf]

Life and geography just ain't simple, are they?

[dukehjsteve]

Is not the Salton Sea in southern California also below sea level ?

[gh]

a quick Google finds a figure of -228ft for Salton Sea (or is that now down to Salton Puddle status?)

[cullman]

Life and geography just ain't simple, are they?

Caspian Sea (world's largest lake by surface area), Sea of Galilee (largest fresh water lake) and Dead Sea (lake with lowest elevation) are almost always the answer to weird below sea level bodies of water questions. Getting a good definition of a lake is another matter.

cman

[BillVol]

Where are you getting your questions, G?

[cullman]

Trivial Pursuit - Brain-Teasers and Lakes Edition ops:

cman

[Powell]

Getting a good definition of a lake is another matter.

I always thought the definition was very clear cut. If it's a part of the global ocean system, it's a sea. If it's unconnected to it, it's a lake (regardless of whether it has 'sea' in the name or not).

[tandfman]

That works fine, but you're not going to get people to re-name lakes that have been called seas for centuries.

Also, it doesn't settle the question of what's the dividing line between lakes and smaller bodies of water like ponds.

[dukehjsteve]

a quick Google finds a figure of -228ft for Salton Sea (or is that now down to Salton Puddle status?)

Last time I saw it ( 3 1/2 years ago ) it looked like it still had plenty of H2O.

So does this mean you should have said FOUR instead of three ?!

[dukehjsteve]

Getting a good definition of a lake is another matter.

I always thought the definition was very clear cut. If it's a part of the global ocean system, it's a sea. If it's unconnected to it, it's a lake (regardless of whether it has 'sea' in the name or not).

So you want to re-name the Caspian Sea as the Caspian Lake ?