The Messinian Salinity Crisis highlights the dynamic nature of Earth's geological processes and their profound impact on marine environments.
The study suggests that similar geological events could occur again in the distant future, emphasizing the long-term changes in Earth's climate and geography.
An international team of scientists has uncovered the mystery of the Mediterranean Sea's drastic drying event that occurred around 6 million years ago, leading to the formation of a thick layer of salt on the seabed. This phenomenon, known as the Messinian Salinity Crisis, was caused by the closure of the Strait of Gibraltar, which resulted in the evaporation of approximately 70% of the Mediterranean's water and a significant drop in sea level by about one kilometer.
The study, published in Nature Communications, details two stages of sedimentation during this crisis. The first stage involved a partial closure of the Strait, leading to increased salinity and salt deposition over approximately 35,000 years. The second stage saw a complete closure of the waterway, resulting in rapid evaporation and further salt accumulation in less than 10,000 years.
The end of this dry period was marked by the Zanclean flood, a massive influx of water from the Atlantic that reconnected the Mediterranean Sea, potentially the largest flood in Earth's history. This event not only reshaped the Mediterranean landscape but also had significant ecological impacts, leading to a biodiversity crisis where only a fraction of endemic species survived.
