Scientists made a discovery at the site where Moses parted the Red Sea (photo).

Scientists have discovered deadly traps on the seafloor in the depths of the Red Sea, created by nature itself, reports DailyMail.

Researchers found salt pools at a depth of 1219 meters beneath the surface of the Gulf of Aqaba. These pools are ten times saltier than regular seawater and devoid of oxygen, effectively killing any living organism that enters them. Scientists believe that these extreme environments mimic the harsh conditions of early Earth, particularly in the deep sea, where life may have first emerged.

Salt pools are rare, with only about 40 identified in the Red Sea, Mediterranean Sea, and the recently renamed Gulf of Mexico. Thus, researchers hope to gather information about tsunamis, sudden floods, and earthquakes in the region that occurred thousands of years ago.

The brine pools were found in the region of the Red Sea, which is thought to be the place where Moses parted the waters while leading the Israelites to the Promised Land.

"The pools expand the known geographical range of brine pools in the Red Sea and represent a unique environment for preserving sedimentary signals of regional climate and tectonic events," the researchers stated.

The Gulf of Aqaba is considered mysterious due to its unique geological features, including extreme depths, volcanic activity, and unusual temperature fluctuations at depth.

This region is a narrow strip of the Red Sea that separates Egypt's Sinai from Saudi Arabia, and some experts believe that it was here Moses parted the waters while leading the Israelites to the Promised Land.

The fact is that the Gulf of Aqaba is deeper and wider than other regions of the Red Sea, which aligns with the story of Moses in the Book of Exodus.

During their research, scientists from the University of Miami uncovered another mystery while studying the depths with a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) over six weeks.

"We were very fortunate. The discovery happened in the last five minutes of a ten-hour ROV dive that we could dedicate to this project," said Professor Sam Perkis.

The ROV discovered a "desolate seafloor, thickly covered with mud" in those last minutes, leading the researchers to the salt pools. Because this brine is so dense, it sits at the ocean bottom and cannot quickly mix with the surrounding salty water.

In areas where salty water rises from beneath the ground, "salt pools" can form strange underwater lakes and ponds. Most forms of life die immediately, but extremophile prokaryotes thrive. These are single-celled organisms that live in extreme conditions: high temperature, pressure, salinity, acidity, or radiation.

The team also found sulfate-reducing bacteria that convert sulfate into energy.

Scientists determined that these bacteria have reduced the sulfate levels in the Gulf of Aqaba so much that the sulfate-to-chloride ratio in the brine is the lowest ever recorded in the area.

As a reminder, scientists have identified the most dangerous seas in the world. Turbulent waters have been a curse for sailors and a subject of legends for centuries. Yet some of them are considered the most perilous on the planet.