The Quran about Seas and Rivers
Figure 1: The Mediterranean water as it enters the ocean over the Gibraltar sill featuring its own warm, saline, and less dense properties, because of the barrier which distinguishes in between them. Temperatures are in degrees Celsius (C°). (Marine Geology, Kuenen, p. 43, with a slight improvement.)
Even though there are large waves, strong currents, and tides during these seas, they do not mix in or offend this barrier.
The Holy Quran mentioned that there's a barrier between two seas that meet and that they do not transgress. God has said:
“He has set 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 in regards to the divider between fresh and salt water, it reference the existence of “a forbidding partition” with the barrier. God has said in the Quran:
“He is the one who has set free the two kinds of water, one sweet and palatable, and the other salty and bitter. And He has made 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 scientific research has found that in estuaries, where fresh (sweet) and salt water meet, the problem is somewhat different from what is found in locations where two seas meet. It's been discovered that what distinguishes fresh water from salt water in estuaries is a “pycnocline zone with a marked thickness discontinuity separating the two layers.” This partition (zone of separation) has a different salinity through the fresh water and from the salt water (see figure 2).
Figure 2: Longitudinal part showing salinity (parts per thousand ‰) in an estuary. We become aware of here the partition (zone of separation) between your fresh and the salt water. (Introductory Oceanography, Thurman, p. 301, with a slight improvement.)
This information has been uncovered only recently, using advanced equipment to measure temperature, salinity, density, oxygen dissolubility, and so on. The human eye can not see the distinction between the two seas that meet, instead the two seas appear to us as one homogeneous sea. Similarly, the human eye are unable to see the division of water in estuaries inside three kinds: fresh water, salt water, and the partition (zone of separation).
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