Nicole Sharp<p><strong>Flooding the Mediterranean</strong></p><p>Nearly 6 million years ago, the Mediterranean was cut off from the ocean and evaporated faster than rivers could replenish it. This created a salty desert that persisted until about 5.3 million years ago. One hypothesis — the Zanclean megaflood — suggests that the Mediterranean refilled rapidly through an erosion channel near the Strait of Gilbraltar. A <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-024-01972-w" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">new study</a> bolsters the concept by identifying geological features near Sicily consistent with the megaflood.</p><p>The team point to a grouping of over 300 ridges near the Sicily Sill, once a land bridge dividing the eastern and western Mediterranean and now underwater. The ridges are layered in debris but aren’t streamlined, suggesting they were rapidly deposited by turbulent waters, and date to the period of the proposed flooding. For more on the Zanclean Flood, check out this older post. (Image credit: <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/blue-and-white-dome-building-near-body-of-water-during-daytime-UkUWCrkO0aA" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">R. Klavins</a>; research credit: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-024-01972-w" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">A. Micallif et al.</a>; via <a href="https://gizmodo.com/new-evidence-bolsters-theory-of-ancient-megaflood-that-refilled-the-mediterranean-millions-of-years-ago-2000553581?__readwiseLocation=" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Gizmodo</a>)</p><p><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://fyfluiddynamics.com/tagged/erosion/" target="_blank">#erosion</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://fyfluiddynamics.com/tagged/flooding/" target="_blank">#flooding</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://fyfluiddynamics.com/tagged/fluid-dynamics/" target="_blank">#fluidDynamics</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://fyfluiddynamics.com/tagged/geology/" target="_blank">#geology</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://fyfluiddynamics.com/tagged/geophysics/" target="_blank">#geophysics</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://fyfluiddynamics.com/tagged/physics/" target="_blank">#physics</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://fyfluiddynamics.com/tagged/science/" target="_blank">#science</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://fyfluiddynamics.com/tagged/turbulence/" target="_blank">#turbulence</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://fyfluiddynamics.com/tagged/zanclean-flood/" target="_blank">#ZancleanFlood</a></p>