Mar Mediterâneo
Contrary to what was thought, the end of the Messinian salinity crisis was a sudden mega -ending that lasted between 2 and 16 years. It was one of the greatest floods in earth history.
An innovator published in Communications Earth & Environment revealed irrefutable evidence of Zanchlean megainundationa catastrophic event that has renamed the Mediterranean Sea in a few years, reshaping the region’s geology and ending the Messinian salinity crisis for over five million years.
During the Messinian salinity crisis, between 5.97 and 5.33 million years, the Mediterranean Sea was isolated from the Atlantic Oceanleading to the evaporation of their waters and the formation of vast saline, says.
For decades, scientists believed that the Mediterranean had gradually replenished over a period of 10,000 years. However, new investigations suggest that the sea was replenished in a Dramatic and large -scale floodwhich lasted only two to 16 years.
An international team of researchers used geological data, numerical models and seismic analyzes to reconstruct the scale and dynamics of mega-inundation. Their findings reveal that the flood was one of the most powerful in the history of the earthwith the water flowing at rates of 68 to 100 sverdrups (1 SV equals one million cubic meters of water per second). These flows are much superior to any other flooded floods in the geological record.
The team focused on more than 300 aerodynamic ridges found near Sicily Sill, a submerged land bridge that once divided the basins of the eastern and western Mediterranean. The shape and orientation of the crests indicate that they were carved by turbulent water flows that moved to Northeast to speeds up to 32 meters per second. Sediment deposits in the crests, formed from rapidly eroded material, mark the border between the Messinian and Zanchlean periods, aligning with the moment of megainundation.
The seismic reflection data revealed a W -shaped channel on the continental shelf near Sicily. It is likely that this channel has channeled the waters of the Atlantic floods, transporting them to the NOTO cannon, a deep submarine valley in the eastern Mediterranean.
“Zanchlean’s megainundation was a phenomenal event that left lasting marks in the geology of the region,” said Aaron Micallef, main author of the study. “Our findings provide the most complete evidence of this dramatic moment of land history”.
