The Formation of the Mediterranean Sea

Continued from • BASEBALL, Part 2
An excerpt from Episode 14 of our Endless Ocean: Blue World Let's Play. www.kisamayatsu.com/letsplay/EO2/
/ zorak

[@alanfbrookes9771]

If the Gibralta Straits were to seal up again I guarantee that we would dig a channel to keep it open. There's too much investment in the Mediterranean for humans to let it dry up. As long as there are humans there will be a Mediterranean.

[@Exoneos]

I don't underestimate Human but really none human can fight the FORCE OF MOTHER FUCKING TECTONIC PLATE !

[@HerrHertzsprung]

Human engineering has only been possible so far by mastering rigidity. Our engineering can't deal yet with the tremendous forces that keep the planet flexible throrough geological time as to wreck human building.

[@Karen1963Yorks]

@@Exoneos I think we can outwit a tectonic plate. Well some of us can.

[@razorback1sf1]

@@HerrHertzsprung we have nukes, tho it would posion the water, it definitely could reform the sea if we unclogged the straight

[@MrCrunch808]

@Matheus Troan through a series of locks, which wouldn't work for refilling an entire sea basin.

[@LordEmilous]

Imagine being at the Gibraltar at the very moment it broke? :D And witnessing all that massive amount of ocean water just pour in

[@wd-type9643]

Slow or not it would’ve been a beautiful sight

[@jamessmith84240]

Yea I was thinking the same. The scale of it must have been crazy. I mean look up what happened at Lake Peigneur in 1980, and this was a drip in comparrison.

[@shruggzdastr8-facedclown]

mPky1: Back then, not only was it not known as "Istanbul", it was millennia from being named "Constantinople"

[@shruggzdastr8-facedclown]

mPky1: Um, that's what I was saying -- you just misread me.

[@lusornemo8066]

Lord Emilous That waterfall would cause so much noise!

[@EASYTIGER10]

Fascinating fact: They reckon the very rapid drying of the Med left the Nile "hanging" with rapids or even a waterfall where it met the Med, and the much more rapid waters cut a deep canyon which moved south into Egypt in only a few millennia. When the Med filled again and the Nile slowed, that canyon quickly filled with the sediment that the Nile is famous for. If you look at the Nile Valley in northern Egypt today, you see that much of it is a flat, fertile floodplain with a rocky "lip" on each side before transitioning almost immediately into desert. Some reckon the relatively small cliffs that make that lip are in fact the top of a pair of canyon walls that would dwarf the Grand Canyon.....

[@James-fg8rf]

This is super cool. Thanks or sharing :)

[@brianjohnson9938]

One of the Cosmos episode explains how the Mediterranean Sea being refilled played a big part in the evolution of humans. The Mediterranean sea filling lowered the ocean level so that North and South America connected. This new connection shifted the ocean flow which make Africa much hotter and less of a forest. African primates in trees who'd become humans lost a lot of forest density to protect themselves from predators, and subsequently had to adapt to walk and run and use their hands for holding and using tools as weapons instead of hiding. Pretty fascinating.

[@srinitaaigaura]

This planet is intelligent.

[@njebei]

I think this is a bit of an oversimplification. I don't remember Cosmos saying this specifically but if they did they are overselling (they did this a lot to ease story flow from one topic to the next). The Mediterranean closed about 5.9 million years ago and reopened about 5.3 million years ago. The closing of Americas took much longer, the South American plate beginning to subduct under North America about 24 million years ago and forming one contiguous land mass about 3 million years ago. The thing that disputes the 'Cosmos theory' is forests in East Africa began to be replaced by grassland about 10 million years ago and had switched completely around 3 million years ago. Another is that current scientific belief is the water transfer between the Pacific and Atlantic stopped between 7-11 million years ago, long before the Mediterranean closed and reopened. I do think it is accurate to say both events had various effects which in turn affected us. It seems likely to me that the linking of North/South America was the root cause for the formation of the African grasslands as it fits the timeline. It would be another 4 million years before the Mediterranean closed. I'm sure the closing of the Mediterranean 5.9 million years ago had its own effect as local heat patterns, blowing dust, and salinity and certainly would have changed climate all over the world. However, the forests in East Africa had already started disappearing long before this happened. Frankly, it is probably a good thing the grasslands took millions of years to appear. If it took less time humans would have been less able to adjust the new environment. At the very least, we would have evolved differently.

[@rderran5377]

@Adam Vanderhoofven: All you've managed to do here is to prove -- 1) that you have no earthly clue how the processes of biological evolution work, and 2) that you have no clue what sort of fossil evidence for primate evolution actually exists. All in all, good job looking like a completely ignorant @55clown.

[@rderran5377]

@lmb nasri: No one said that the primates in question "suddenly became incapable of climbing trees." The steady reduction in tree coverage reduced the protective advantage provided by the trees. Long-term survival in that context required adaptation. At least one, perhaps more, groups of these primates did adapt to a different preferred form of locomotion. Others probably did not (meaning they either died out or they adapted in some other way, leading to a different species line). See what happens when you actually do "switch on your brain" instead of just shooting your mouth off?

[@VenueVideoUK]

So you've not heard of the last ice age and the sea levels that were so much lower for so long 😉

[@VoidHalo]

That was really well written. I admit the visuals weren't as descriptive as I'm used to, but the writing was phenomenal and I think the visuals only made me pay more attention to that. Definitely glad I stumbled across this.

[@welshpete12]

I used to sail the Med and often wondered how it came to be . Thank you for posting , very informative .

[@kristine6996]

A lot of plastic is destroying its beauty. I witnessed this in Cyprus. So very very sad !

[@SolaceEasy]

"Very small, very few, large brine lakes." Which were the perfect breeding grounds for Jumbo Shrimp.

[@EASYTIGER10]

Which at close to boiling point, would be ready cooked :)

[@SolaceEasy]

"Very few, very small, large brine lakes." Did the small large lakes have jumbo shrimp?

[@MrPeterGoldman]

What is this? Everyone knows it was Heracles who broke a path through the mountain of Gibraltar to let in the Atlantic Ocean!

[@spidercollector9636]

_Woooosh_

[@therealinferno161]

+FortniteSnipes r/wooosh

[@richardbigouette3651]

MrPeterGoldman damn my ignorance.

[@floridaman4073]

Hercules was born in Lixus where the garden of Hesperides was located. The site does exist and been there near the present day Larache, Morocco. His exploits on the other hand are exaggerated to say the least.

[@brahim119]

*@MrPeterGoldman,* Sorry to see that many _smart_ guys missed the meaning of your subtle joke,

[@snakepliskin23]

The Mediterranean has always been the peak of my places to visit

[@ahmetseckinov8790]

I learn more at youtube than at school

[@fluff5]

@@viracocha definitely yes. School sucks

[@slomotionaction]

@@fluff5 school uses youtube as their platform and i say no. Sorry edit but yes school is using KZbin instead of the outdated vhs tapes we used to use so no KZbin is teaching what school is teaching

[@stekingtv]

@@viracocha Definitely yes.

[@konstantinoster9697]

@@viracocha so nice of you to explain to him. I dont know he ll change his mind tho

[@Ikelae]

Glad I found this ^^

[@xpsmango4146]

535M years ago, a camera enthusiast was standing close to the Strait of gibraltar, when he saw a flood gate of water rush into the dry bed of mediterranean sea and he started filming. Indeed it was once in a lifetime opportunety.

[@aaronmarks9366]

Great video, and I really liked the music - symphonic and nature goes so well together

[@walidtali1804]

The Mediterranean: the holy sea, the cradle of civilization 💪

[@dddf27]

Holy? Why

[@Ispeakthetruthify]

A sea that was formed millions of years before humans even existed, and made up religion? I guess you can call that "holy"....

[@Cringekeen]

Based

[@Nellis202]

@@Ispeakthetruthifylighten up ⬆️

[@dominikhameder629]

Mare nostrum.

[@fredhoupt4078]

stunning. Very well presented. I didn't know most of that history. Wow.

[@BAMofNC]

It would be great to do a video and description of the changing shoreline starting at the end of the last ice age and mapping out how the shoreline moved "inland" as the ocean levels rose from the ice melting. Now that would be interesting and would explain how so many ruins of towns and cities are now under water.

[@salchaw]

amazing ! thank u for posting .

[@bluesdirt5889]

The Midwest or Chicago land area was also an inland sea . Thornton quarry's are amazing

[@Sandromvd]

the best video about Gibaltrar, thanks 👏🏼👏🏼🙌🏼

[@tomgates316]

Was a documentary within the last few years were they discussed drilling core samples from the bottom of the Mediterranean. They found repeating layers of decayed vegetation. Interesting area full of history.

[@bajwa401]

You have just earned a subscriber. Great presentation.

[@NotFlappy12]

imagine being alive at the time the mediterranean opened up, that would probably be one the fastest changes to the earths surface ever

[@GrahamCStrouse]

Mage craft There have been a few near equivalents. The formation of the Black Sea occurred somewhere around 7000-9000 years ago if I recall correctly.

[@reddwarfer999]

@@GrahamCStrouse That would have been but a mere trickle compared to the Med filling up.

[@arkie87]

why is the temperature at the dried out Mediterranean sea hotter?

[@Sam_on_YouTube]

There was a proposed geoengineering project a few decades back to build a gibralter damn to create a large energy supply plus tons of new land in the mediterranean. It was abandoned for several reasons. First, the massive terraforming would have changed the envoronment of a great deal of the world in ways that were not always predictable and often would have been disasterous, like the massively higher water levels flooding every coastal city on the world's oceans. And also because there wasn't enough concrete in the world to actually build it nor the technology to get it done. Plus, if it broke, everyone would die. So it was kind of a bad idea.

[@petraf2069]

Not to mention the land under the sea is completely uninhabitable wasteland.

[@giorgospapoutsakis5271]

You mean the Atlantropa project from that one German engineer?

[@hotrodjones74]

Stuff like this was the most interesting part of my Geology 101 class at university. Rocks for jocks! Or in my case science for a liberal arts degree. I admit I did my Russian homework sometimes in the geology lecture, but the lab on Wednesday evenings was awesome! I think geological history and basic plate tectonics are more interesting for me than memorizing rock compositions.

[@finaoo1167]

I've often wondered if Gibraltar breaking contributed to the legend of the Flood, but if it happened 5.5 million years ago there would have been no humans around to witness it.

[@njebei]

A more likely candidate is the Black Sea flooding that occurred when sea levels began to rise after the last ice age. It is estimated that sea levels dropped about 130 meters at the last glacial maximum which is a problem when you consider the shallowest part of the Bosporus (which links the Black Sea to the Mediterranean) is about 13 meters deep. The rivers feeding the Black Sea don't have enough flow to fill that body of water completely so during the ice age it would have shrunk to about half its current size. At some point, estimated to be about 10,000 years ago, the waters of the Mediterranean sea rose enough to again top the Bosporus and its waters flooded the Black Sea. Scientists argue how quickly it filled but there is no doubt that whole communities were flooded and cultures had to relocate. Considering that the area north of the Caspian and Black sea is also a probable source of Indo-European language it it isn't too much of a leap of faith to link this event to the many of the stories as its people moved beyond this area. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Sea_deluge_hypothesis en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-European_languages#Evolution

[@finaoo1167]

Agreed. The timing of the Black Sea flooding makes it much more likely, but the sheer scale of the Mediterranean has always fascinated me, so I guess it was some wishful thinking on my part.

[@jaumemiravitlles3001]

GREAT Documentary!

[@andrewrecard5857]

Good video. Geological history is always so interesting

[@JustinLHopkins]

Would have been incredible to see such an epic geological event.

[@mahrezfans1120]

As I live in Morocco, no thanks lol

[@collegeman1988]

Did the Mediterranean Sea dry up because of an ice age? This would explain why ocean levels were lower at that time. As the polar regions melted, ocean levels would rise and eventually, the area between what is now Spain and Gibraltar would flood.

[@mattpliska]

Why is it that the Mediterranean is less salty than the ocean if it is ocean water that flooded into collosal salt flats and hypersaline seas?

[@tommyharrington3094]

It would be fun and go back in time to see the Gibraltar straight break and watch the biggest flood ever happen. Would be fun with popcorn

[@dutchministryofdefence604]

thank the gods for Gibralter

[@Utubearchy]

Strangely, the video omitted mentioning the feedback that the desiccation of the Mediterranean Sea would have created beyond stating the quick drop in sea level when what we today call 'Gibraltar' opened up to flood the Mediterranean basin. When the Mediterranean dried up not only did all that water get redistributed to the rest of the world but it captured huge volumes of salt, making the world's oceans less salty. This could've led to an increase of ice buildup in the oceans and create surfaces reflecting more incoming sun light which in turn could lower temperatures and create major climatic changes to include ice age conditions. The amount of salt deposits around the Mediterranean indicates that there may have been multiple drying and flooding of the the Mediterranean basin. This whole picture hints at how the development of human populations and civilizations managed to squeeze itself between geological changes in the dynamic history of the planet. And that our fragile existence can't be taken for granted, especially if we ignore our own impact.

[@soulmanonesexperiences7531]

Thanks for your information. Science is never settled. This video is over 2 years old.

[@whatthehellol1610]

The Mediterranean sea regulates the sea level of the earth.

[@johnbecich9540]

Cataclysmic inundations are ALWAYS "game changers"! Thank you for this marvelous compendium that succinctly explains what has been ambiguously told, before. The story of this "Middle Earth" Sea warrants attention by those who are tethered to Jedeo-Christian explanations on the origins of Western Civilization, if not humanity itself. Ditto, the Black Sea's inundation, at Bosporus. That recent catastrophe was dramatized by two scientists who wrote "Noah's Flood"; Bob Ballard (of Titanic fame) subsequently searched that Sea's bottom, and found nothing resembling ancient human habitats, however.

[@ryan2flyin]

This video was done very well

[@PalaeoJoe]

MIND BLOWN!

[@df4250]

There should be more geological stories like this one. I trevealed to me something I was not aware of about the beautiful Mediteranean.

[@magos_0083]

Amazing video

[@sarcasmo57]

There's so much Roman treasure at the bottom of that sea. It would be pretty cool if it could dry again up for just a little while.

[@Sock1122]

annual holiday, search for as much missing roman treasure in the dred up Med over 24hrs as you can

[@alexhurlbut]

The one way for that to happen, I.E. dropping sea level is by having a freezing period where more water gets lock up in ice again. Aka another Ice Age.

[@karabenomar]

But you better be back in time, we're not waiting for stragglers.

[@eschel2155]

Alex Hurlbut or the mediteranian could dry up again

[@alexhurlbut]

Which require reducing water flow into the sea.

[@Ken15643]

Great job.

[@andrewgalvin844]

Thank you for your factual videos...they stand out.

[@jofermk]

great video !!!

[@BazColne]

I'm looking forward to seeing the Mediterranean seals featured here.

[@philwaters9751]

Great little lecture bud... And nice music too... xxx ;-)

[@ErstDErst]

THIS IS WHY THEY SAY ... THE MORE YOU EXPLAIN THE BETTER YOUR EXPLANATION ..... GRAT LESSON FOR ALL

[@jpstenino]

Good production Congratulations.

[@UTubeGlennAR]

Vary Interesting and Informative, Big Thank You........

[@awildfilingcabinet6239]

now I want to see an animation of that.

[@ChristianJiang]

Why are there so many dumb comments??

[@WinHippopotamus]

I don't know man I was wondering the same thing. A bunch of fucking retards here, even by normal KZbin standards.

[@dddf27]

Idk

[@caseypilarczyk9312]

@Thomas Headley Shipwreck in the underworld and dinosaur somebody here for ghost sea Hunter is nightmarish the living creatures on the earth was kind of extinct things that island about fossils and bones at the field museum

[@user-md9yv7jx2c]

The Great Basin of Nevada is basically an inland sea that dried up, permanently. Our state fossil is the Ichthyosaur.

[@kille7543]

Many years ago I read Julian May, The Saga of the Exiles, this brings me back. 🤗

[@dudeskidaddy]

The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain

[@Swecraft1]

This was very interesting and I am surprised and a little sad to see this hasn't gotten more views.

[@Timrath]

I love how you coordinated yourself with the music. Coincidence or careful planning?

[@ChristianJiang]

Super super super interestinghissimo!!

[@Julia-kz6ed]

From Spain, very interesting.

[@frmol1]

Im from Slovakia.. dam! we had a sea couple millions years ago... "wish i could turn back time.."

[@adreq3.05]

I my country was the see too. I seen once the relicts of that world.

[@robburgess4556]

I know I'm late to the party, but 40C is 104F, not 72F!

[@eliblake3112]

And there is evidence that in HISTORICAL times (like flooded coastlines containing evidence of ancient civilization) that a similar event happened in which the Mediterranean itself broke through a land bridge in the Bosporous and flooded the basin of the Black Sea (which previously was probably a large freshwater lake.)

[@tripsalloveramerica689]

thanks for the so accurate information ,we still find a fossils at 600 meters about the sea level all around Mediterranean sea

[@TheRealBrook1968]

At least two similar events have occurred in human history. The breaking of Niagara10,000 BC (coincidentally the beginning of the Neolithic Era) and the Bosporus around 6,000 BC. In fact, there have been archaeological dives in the Black Sea to underwater civilizations for many years.

[@simonk.4338]

Thats insane! Imagine being there, seeing the flood with your own eyes.

[@Trash_Boat007]

there's an interesting theory that states that this flood is what caused the mythos of the biblical flood. early humans experienced this and it morphed and changed as stories of it were told through the generations

[@lennysmileyface]

@@Trash_Boat007 What humans were in Europe 5.3 million years ago though?

[@reddwarfer999]

@@Trash_Boat007 Far more likely that would be the Black Sea flood.

[@orangejuiceman]

I’m far more fascinated by the background music.

[@alanfbrookes9771]

There's such an enormous current lowing through the Straits of Gibraltar that it would make a wonderful electricity generation project, and you could have a railway bridge across, linking Europe with Africa.

[@barrybarlowe5640]

A lot of this is speculation. Ive heard it described differently in several places. It's possible the Mediterranean basin was habitable. Remember, the Sahara has undergone shifts in climate as well - frequently greening with abundant rivers that might also have fed the basin.

[@Gribbo9999]

Thank you for you very informative and well presented video. I am not sure about one thing you said. What was the mechanism that reduced the salinity of the rest of the oceans when the catastrophic refilling of the Mediterranean basin happened?

[@johnvonshepard9373]

fascinating.

[@johnvonshepard9373]

omes out.

[@monk9816]

Imagine what kinds of life forms lived in the basin before Gibraltar opened back up. We could be on the surface of a series of great scientific discoveries. There could be creatures similar to that of the Atacama Desert in Chile, which is the current driest place on Earth. There could be so much buried down there, albeit the amount of fossils would be slim, due to likely not having the best conditions for fossilization, they it is possible, we have fossils from the Gobi Desert, and pretty good ones at that.

[@lizardirl9488]

Don't forget all the roman treasure still left to be uncovered down there!

[@rharvey9808]

Hunting fossils would be extremely difficult. Remember that the inrushing Atlantic filled the Med in (at most) a couple of years...so we are talking water flows of trillions of gallons per hour. This would have scoured the surface away and dumped debris into the deepest portions where it might have had a chance to settle to the bottom over time. Any fossils that did survive being pulverised, would now be in the deepest parts of the Med...and under thousands of feet of silt. Now as for the gold and other treasures...it would include Roman, Greek, Egyptian cultural trophies among many others. So...who's got a boat? :-)

[@EASYTIGER10]

I don't reckon they find much life in the deepest parts. The Atacama is a picnic compared to what the Med Desert would have been like.

[@BFDT-4]

Hello, what is the background music? I like it very much!

[@alejandrayalanbowman367]

You must be the only one.

[@alastairdickins]

BFDT Maybe some Vaughan Williams? I'd also like to know what it is

[@rt6692]

I'm curious myself too!

[@l3fth4nd]

Yoko Kanno - Man in the Desert. The album is Song to Fly.

[@rt6692]

Thank you!

[@hmabboud]

Excellent presentation. Was this your graduation/thesis project?

[@StanleyKewbeb1]

3:50 It formed very small large lakes

[@ONKTmetalband]

Couldn't handle the background music anymore after 2 min.

[@MM-hg8lw]

thanks

[@jdsol1938]

reading the comments everyone seems to like your work, me too

[@steveweinstein3222]

Interesting! I always thought that GIbraltar, rising so dramatically, wouldn't/couldn't stay that way.

[@GravesRWFiA]

interesting, thank you

[@omarma7815]

fun fact gibraltar derived from the arabic word "jabal tarik" which literally translates to the mountain of tarik referring to the muslim umayyad general tarik ibin ziyad who conqured spain in 8th centuary and formed andalus

[@martialkintu2035]

Omar Almalouhi It doesn't even sound close to that. It's like saying that the word macadamia nuts are derived from Macedonia.

[@TheAutobotPower]

The great Mediterrean salt desert

[@fionnmoules7620]

If this never happend we wouldn't be here today

[@pagedown4195]

I´ll think we would..

[@riebenzahl-524]

Maybe we would, but our culture would look different, or even not at all. The Mediterranean sea is the cradle of our western civilization. Not only that most civs lived alongside the shore but euphrat and tigris are also (partly) fed by evaporated water from the sea With that gone no civs would have formed alongside the Mediterranean, maybe only egyptian, but that would be isolated as no other civ would have formed around it in a desert bigger than the Gobi. Migration routs would have shifted, maybe we would never have left africa....and formed no civilization at all as all plants and animals used (most) came from eurasia and not africa The impact of that would have changed our evolution completely because it would have had effects on the climate in africa as well

[@strom56]

excellent video I was just wondering how the Gibraltar Straight closed up?

[@SusieKahlich]

What is the music used at the beginning of this clip????

[@alperenbaser5595]

What about Black sea during this event with sea of Marmara ?

[@TheNamelessOne888]

The continents are shifting a little today. To clarify, because we know this is happening constantly, we are witnessing the exact point of slight continental shift. Geological activity has increased in the pacific ocean recently. This has caused islands to raise and volcanoes to erupt. It's not over yet. Keep watching. Stay tuned and watch what happens next.

[@adambrickley1119]

"very small, very few, large brine lakes"

[@rogerdudra178]

Greetings from the BIG SKY. The Straits of Heracles to the rescue.

[@RuiCBGLima]

Awesome video. What's the name of the music pieces?

[@Silverado138]

Need to talk about Atlantropa / Panropa like Herman Sörgel planned. He wanted a hydroelectric dam to be built across the Strait of Gibraltar...

[@eddog6666]

Something like that happened to the inland sea of USA. That sea poured into the Snake River. in I have been there. It was road trip to Wyoming where and it has a rest stop there.

[@ronjohnson1658]

At 4:18 the temperature of 40 degrees Celsius is definitely NOT 72 degrees Fahrenheit ! 40 deg C = 104 deg F !

[@jamessmith84240]

Can you imagine seeing that flood coming in...

[@rico1346]

What is the song name in the first part of the video? It's so beautiful ;-; (also, amazing vid!)

[@syncmaster915n]

Let's talk about Snowball Earth. If the entire world was covered in ice and snow, where did all the water which formed the ice and snow come from, and where had it gone? I mean If the ice sheet was thick enough to cover the tallest mountains, granted Mt. Everest hasn't been formed yet, there must be a hell of a lot more water on earth than there is now!!

[@francogiobbimontesanti3826]

That is not it it was just that ice expands way more than water and the seas weren't as deep and the mountains weren't as tall

[@supplican]

That ice and snow was ocean, and became ocean again afterwards. Sea level was MUCH lower during the snowball earth period.

[@error5202]

Can you imagine standing nearbywhen the whole landmass around Gibraltar broke free?

[@nearearthobjects3089]

May 2021 Gibraltar shakes to be on topic

[@guadalupegandara8961]

Rapid descent of Oceans due to Gibraltar straight breakout explains Tamaranset basin drain