How the biggest flood in the history of the Earth created the Mediterranean

a year ago

The Mediterranean Sea was cut off from the Atlantic Ocean 6 million years ago due to tectonic activity, leading to its evaporation and the Messinian Salinity Crisis.
About 5.3 million years ago, the Atlantic Ocean breached the Gibraltar mountain range, causing a massive flood that refilled the Mediterranean in a geological instant.
The floodwaters moved at speeds up to 72 mph, generating tropical-storm force winds and creating a waterfall 30 times taller than Niagara Falls.
The influx of water triggered earthquakes and drastically altered the Mediterranean's ecosystem, with only a fraction of its original marine species surviving.
The Zanclean megaflood transformed the Mediterranean into a biodiversity hotspot, though it never returned to its pre-crisis state, offering lessons on irreversible ecological changes.
Scientists study this ancient flood to understand modern climate change impacts, including glacier melt and sea-level rise.

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