TLDR: The discovery of a giant rabbit and the Mediterranean Salt Giant reveal the Mediterranean Sea’s evaporation and refilling due to tectonic shifts and climate changes, impacting marine life and evolution.
This article is a summary of a You Tube video “That Time the Mediterranean Sea Disappeared” by PBS Eons
Key Takeaways:
- Discovery of Nuralagus rex: In 2011, paleontologists found fossils of a giant rabbit, Nuralagus rex, on Minorca, indicating a case of insular gigantism during the Pliocene Epoch.
- Mediterranean Salt Giant: The undersea salt deposits, known as the Mediterranean Salt Giant, suggest that the Mediterranean Sea once evaporated, leading to a major geological mystery.
- Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC): This crisis occurred when the Mediterranean’s main water source from the Atlantic was cut off, leading to high evaporation rates and the formation of salt deposits.
- Hypotheses for MSC: Scientists proposed three main hypotheses involving global cooling, tectonic shifts, and a combination of tectonic shifts with climate change, to explain the MSC.
- Tectonic and Climatic Factors: The most accepted explanation involves repeated tectonic shifts and climate change cycles, affecting sea levels and water inflow.
- Impact on Marine Life: The MSC drastically altered marine ecosystems, making the Mediterranean uninhabitable for most marine life during its driest periods.
- Faunal Migrations and Evolution: The lowering of sea levels allowed African megafauna to migrate to Mediterranean islands, leading to unique evolutionary paths like insular gigantism and dwarfism.
- Replenishment of the Mediterranean: The sea was refilled from the Atlantic, possibly through a river-like influx rather than a waterfall, ending the MSC in about 2 years during the Zanclean Flood.
- Possibility of Recurrence: The ongoing shifts in Earth’s tectonic plates and climate changes suggest that such an event could conceivably happen again.
- Scientific Inquiry and Evidence: The MSC’s investigation showcases the complexity of geological and biological processes and the importance of interdisciplinary research in uncovering Earth’s history.
