Modern Science has discovered that in the places where two different seas meet, there is a barrier between them. This barrier divides the two seas so that each sea has its own temperature, salinity, and density. For example, Mediterranean sea water is warm, saline, and less dense, compared to Atlantic ocean water. When Mediterranean sea water enters the Atlantic over the Gibraltar sill, it moves several hundred kilometers into the Atlantic at a depth of about 1,000 meters with its own warm, saline, and less dense characteristics. The Mediterranean water stabilizes at this depth (see figure 13).

Figure 13: The Mediterranean seawater as it enters the Atlantic over the Gibraltar sill with its own warm, saline, and less dense characteristics, because of the barrier that distinguishes between them. Temperatures are in degrees Celsius (C°). (Slightly modified from Marine Geology, Kuenen, p. 43.)

Although there are large waves, strong currents, and tides in these seas, they do not mix or transgress. Allah said:

"He has let free the two seas meeting together. There is a barrier between them. They do not transgress." ( Quran, 55:19-20)

But when the Quran speaks about the divider between fresh and salt water, it mentions the existence of a "a forbidding partition" with the barrier. Allah said in the Quran:

"He is the one who has let free the two bodies of flowing water, one sweet and palatable, and the other salty and bitter. And He has mad between them a barrier and a forbidding partition." ( Quran, 25:53)

One may ask, why did the Quran mention the partition when speaking about the divider between fresh and salt water, but did not mention it when speaking about the divider between the two seas?

Modern science has discovered that in estuaries, where fresh (sweet) and salt water meet, the situation is somewhat different from what is found places where two seas meet. It has been discovered that what distinguishes fresh water from salt water in estuaries is a "pycnocline zone with a marked density discontinuity separating the two layers." This partition (zone of separation) has a different salinity from fresh water and from the salt water. (see figure 14)

Figure 14: Longitudinal section showing salinity (parts per thousand %o) in an estuary. We can see here the partition (zone of separation) between the fresh and the salt water. (Slightly modified from Introductory Oceanography, Thurman, p. 301.)

This information has been discovered only recently using advanced equipment to measure temperature, salinity, density, oxygen dissolubility, etc. The human eye cannot see the difference between the two seas that meet, rather the two seas appear to us as one homogeneous sea. Likewise the human eye cannot see the division of water in estuaries into the three kinds: the fresh water, the salt water, and the partition (zone of separation).

The source of this article is www.islam-guide.com

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