Mediterranean Sea

A few interesting facts about the Mediterranean Sea:

-The Mediterranean Sea is quite a deep sea. On average, it is 1500 meters deep, and the deepest point is 5,267 meters, known as the Calypso Deep, linked to the Hellenic Trench .

-Did you know that the Mediterranean Sea has more evaporation than water coming from the rivers flowing into the Mediterranean Sea. That is, if there were no continuous supply of seawater from the Atlantic Ocean through the the Strait of Gibraltar, the Mediterranean Sea would drop dramatically in terms of sea level.

-Did you know that 5.59 million years ago the Strait of Gibraltar was closed off and almost the entire Mediterranean Sea almost evaporated in 1000 years . Thick layers of salt on the bottom are still proof of this. Deep canyons were also sanded out, at least as spectacular as the Grand Canyon . The water that was left was 50 times as salty as it is now. It was calculated that seabeds were dry 4 km deep. And it was also modeled that at a level of 4 km deep the temperature rose to 80°C . An absolute hell for any life. This dramatic period is known as the Messinian Salinity Crisis, which lasted for 0.6 million years . That is until 5.33 million years ago. Then the Atlantic Ocean massively steamed through the Strait of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean Basin, comparable to 1000 times the Amazon River. The water rose by 10 meters per day. The entire Mediterranean Sea almost completely filled up in less than 2 years (some estimate as much as 7 months). As a result, the water level of the oceans and seas worldwide dropped by 10 meters. It also made the oceans saltier.

Pascal Brackman