<P> Dead Sea mud pack therapy has been suggested to temporarily relieve pain in patients with osteoarthritis of the knees . According to researchers of the Ben Gurion University of the Negev, treatment with mineral - rich mud compresses can be used to augment conventional medical therapy . </P> <P> The sea is called "dead" because its high salinity prevents macroscopic aquatic organisms, such as fish and aquatic plants, from living in it, though minuscule quantities of bacteria and microbial fungi are present . </P> <P> In times of flood, the salt content of the Dead Sea can drop from its usual 35% to 30% or lower . The Dead Sea temporarily comes to life in the wake of rainy winters . In 1980, after one such rainy winter, the normally dark blue Dead Sea turned red . Researchers from Hebrew University of Jerusalem found the Dead Sea to be teeming with a type of alga called Dunaliella . Dunaliella in turn nourished carotenoid - containing (red - pigmented) halobacteria, whose presence caused the color change . Since 1980, the Dead Sea basin has been dry and the algae and the bacteria have not returned in measurable numbers . </P> <P> In 2011 a group of scientists from Be'er Sheva, Israel and Germany discovered fissures in the floor of the Dead Sea by scuba diving and observing the surface . These fissures allow fresh and brackish water to enter the Dead Sea . They sampled biofilms surrounding the fissures and discovered numerous species of bacteria and archaea . </P>

Name the salt lake in china which is also known as the country's 'dead sea