Aerial shot of the Atlantic Ocean, Straits of Gibraltar, and Alboran Sea taken during the STS-59 mission. Photo: NASA
Aerial shot of the Atlantic Ocean, Straits of Gibraltar, and Alboran Sea taken during the STS-59 mission. Photo: NASA - A new study from The Australian National University (ANU) offers further clues about what happened to the Mediterranean during a tumultuous period that likely included the most catastrophic flooding event in Earth's recorded history. The Zanclean megaflood happened around five million years ago following the collapse of the Gibraltar sill, or flood gate, which reconnected the Mediterranean Sea with the Atlantic Ocean. Global sea-levels dropped by 10 metres as the Mediterranean filled up and was converted back into a lively ocean basin. Lead author, PhD researcher Udara Amarathunga, said the flood is known as the most abrupt global-scale environmental shift since the demise of the dinosaurs. "Our study fills a gap in the story. The megaflood triggered the end of the Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC), which was initiated around six million years ago.
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