How the Mediterranean Lost 70% of Its Water Volume
Researchers decode the Messinian Salinity Crisis, revealing two phases of extreme evaporation that shaped the Mediterranean.
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Summary
Scientists have identified two phases of the Messinian Salinity Crisis that transformed the Mediterranean into a massive salt basin 5 million years ago. Analysis of chlorine isotopes reveals drastic sea-level drops and extreme evaporation, shedding light on geological impacts, local volcanic eruptions, and global climatic effects during this major geological event.
Key Takeaways
Mediterranean Sea dropped during the Messinian Salinity Crisis – a major geological event that transformed the Mediterranean into a gigantic salt basin between 5.97 and 5.33 million years ago.
Until now, the process by which a million cubic kilometres of salt accumulated in the Mediterranean basin over such a short period of time remained unknown. Thanks to analysis of the chlorine isotopes contained in salt extracted from the Mediterranean seabed, scientists have been able to identify the two phases of this extreme evaporation event. During the first phase, lasting approximately 35 thousand years, salt deposition occurred only in the eastern Mediterranean, triggered by the restriction of Mediterranean outflow to the Atlantic, in an otherwise brine-filled Mediterranean basin. During the second phase, salt accumulation occurred across the entire Mediterranean, driven by a rapid (< 10 thousand years) evaporative drawdown event during which sea-level dropped 1.7-2.1 km and ~0.85 km in the eastern and western Mediterranean, respectively. As a result, the Mediterranean Basin lost up to 70% of its water volume.
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Subscribe for FREEThis spectacular fall in sea level is thought to have had consequences for both terrestrial fauna and the Mediterranean landscape – triggering localised volcanic eruptions due to unloading of Earth's crust, as well as generating global climatic effects due to the huge depression caused by the sea-level drawdown.
These results, published in Nature Communications on November 18, provide a better understanding of past extreme geological phenomena, the evolution of the Mediterranean region and successive global repercussions.
Reference: Aloisi G, Moneron J, Guibourdenche L, et al. Chlorine isotopes constrain a major drawdown of the Mediterranean Sea during the Messinian Salinity Crisis. NatComm. 2024;15(1):9671. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-53781-6
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