Mount Sodom


Mount Sodom is a hill along the southwestern part of the Dead Sea in Israel, part of the Judaean Desert Nature Reserve.

History

Mount Sodom began its rise hundreds of thousands of years ago and continues to grow taller at a rate of a year.
Movements of the African rift system, along with the pressure generated by the slow accumulation of earth and rock, pressed down on the layers of salt, creating Mount Sodom. It is about 80 percent salt, high, capped by a layer of limestone, clay and conglomerate that was dragged along as it was squeezed up from the valley floor.
It is approximately long, wide, and above the Dead Sea water level, yet below world mean sea level. Because of weathering, some portions have separated. One of these pillars is known as "Lot's wife", in reference to the Biblical account of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.