The article is from the public number: , author: national geographic.
MediterraneanDry up?
Is the sea really dry?
Look at a set of data-the Mediterranean Sea is continuously evaporating every day, and about 1.2 meters of Mediterranean water turns into steam every year, and rainwater and river water cannot meet the “supplement”.
The Strait of Gibraltar is the narrow waters of the western Mediterranean and the only connection between the Mediterranean and the world ’s oceans. As shown above, this shot At the International Space Station. Photo by NASA
The Mediterranean area is equivalent to more than 1/4 of China ’s land area, which means that Evaporation of the Mediterranean Sea is equivalent to 1.5 billion swimming pools every year !
Mediterranean “throw” such swimming pools into the air every year, 1.5 billion
Now speaking of the Mediterranean, do you think of “Italy” first? The country is representative of the Mediterranean climate and is interdependent and symbiotic with the oceans. At this time, Italy is suffering from a new crown, and its mortality rate is now the highest in the world-exceeding 4.96%
On the 9th local time, a funeral home in Italy issued a slogan to remind people to go out as little as possible, “Either stay at home or die in the coffin.”
“Stay at home or die in the coffin”.
Now the countries along the Mediterranean, except for Montenegro, Libya, Turkey, and Syria, are feeling the “claws” of the new crown. The new crown virus has disturbed the Mediterranean coast.
Mediterranean coast Sardinia, Italy, photo: MATTHEW BOROWICK
Now, is it necessary for the Mediterranean to use its “dryness” to make up for it?
The truth is not what you think-the Mediterranean is not as ruthless as you think.
Tunis on the Mediterranean Sea,Known as “the world’s most romantic town” sidi bou said
Although the Mediterranean sea evaporates 1.2 meters deep each year, rain and rivers cannot make up for this consuming system, but the Mediterranean has its only major backer, the Atlantic Ocean.
Atlantic Sunrise, Delaware, USA. The Atlantic Ocean is the second ocean on Earth, driving climate change, including hurricanes, like a huge conveyor belt, driving warm and cold currents around the world. Photo: DAVID GRIFFIN, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION
The Mediterranean also has a narrow and precious channel of water supply, called the Strait of Gibraltar.
The narrow Strait of Gibraltar is shown
It is dominated by the Straits of Gibraltar, including Dardanelles and Bosphorus. The low-salinity seawater in the Black Sea and the Atlantic Ocean can flow through the surface of the strait and flow into the Mediterranean Sea. The Mediterranean is saltier,The heavier seawater is discharged into the Black Sea and the Atlantic Ocean from the deep layer of the strait, and they flow smoothly to each other. In this way, the sea water in the Mediterranean will not decrease every day, nor will it become more and more salty.
However, The sea is really “withered”, the former Mediterranean was really a desert .
Photograph: BRYNN BAYMAN, MY SHOT
Under the glowing turquoise waters of the Mediterranean Sea, a surprising secret is hidden: a salt layer over 3200 meters thick lurks deep in the sea floor. These ghostly white minerals are remnants of the ancient Mediterranean that disappeared millions of years ago, and no one knows what these ancient “salts” have experienced!
About 6 million years ago, these huge salt layers have started to accumulate, and the volume of these salt layers-equivalent to giving more than 7 billion people worldwide, each person is divided into a pile of salt, and the size of this salt pile is quite In the 50 Great Pyramids of Giza! Maybe it is enough for one person to eat 6 million years.
Giza Great Pyramid Group, photo: ALI AL-EZZI, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC YOUR SHOT
Thus, through these ancient thick and dense layers of salt, some scientists believe that the entire ocean dried up for some time,The Mediterranean is as dry as the southern Sahara.
And about 5 million years ago, there was a Zankelian flood. This is the largest flood in the history of the earth. It directly filled the depleted Mediterranean Sea and turned the “mulberry field” into a “sea”. .
About 5 million years ago, the Zankelian flood passed through the Straits of Gibraltar (A) and Sicily (F). Source: Wikipedia
It is estimated that the Atlantic Ocean was pouring into the basin at a torrent, with a flow rate of about 500 times that of the Amazon River, and finally achieved today’s Mediterranean.
From 1550-300 BC, the Phoenicians formed a business network that flourished in the Mediterranean. The picture depicts currency, commodities and slaves. Exchange scenes. Drawing: ROBERT CLIFFORD MAGIS, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
Without that flood or reconnection to the Atlantic, today’s Mediterranean will not exist. In the early days of human civilization, it was impossible for ships to shuttle back and forth on this volcanic high-speed waterway, and the rich culture on the Mediterranean coast was not so vibrant.
Today, the Mediterranean remains an important part of the global water cycle. Evaporation brings additional salt to their waters, which sinks into the Atlantic Ocean, driving ocean conveyor belts to circulate globally, which in turn affects temperature, storm patterns, and more.
Phoenician artifacts on the Mediterranean coast. Photo: WINFIELD PARKS, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
However, doubts began to emerge, and some scientists questioned the Mediterranean as a desert and even questioned the flood.
As early as the 19th century, geologists thought: “It is impossible to have a super flood of that scale.”
Scenario of Zankelian flood crossing the Strait of Gibraltar, source: Wikipedia
Victor Baker, a geologist at the University of Arizona and an expert on catastrophic floods, said: “ The existence of floods like the Zankelian is too rare. It is as rare as an asteroid hitting the earth. This kind of flood is different from all the floods we know. It is not the kind that happens every year, but a rare occurrence for millions of years! “
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The gypsum cone formed on the ocean floor due to evaporation contains countless paleontological fossils. Source: Wikipedia
Wout Krijgsman, a geologist at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands, said: “Biological fossils can be found throughout the dry basin, indicating that the Mediterranean was almost filled with water before it reconnected with the Atlantic. Perhaps before the flood hit, This area is not a desert, but a shrinking ocean. “
But in 5 million years, how much water has evaporated in the Mediterranean to cause shrinkage? And how long did the sea water disappear? Scientists remain divided.
And this fascinating sea has also become a mysterious water, and there are too many mysteries that have not surfaced.
Swimmers swim in the blue sea on Menorca, the second largest island in the Balearic Islands on the west coast of the Mediterranean. Photo by ENRIC ADRIAN GENER, MY SHOT
The Mediterranean will not dry out, but it is shrinking-the area of the Red Sea is expanding: the Red Sea is located between the African plate and the Indian Ocean plate and belongs to the plate growth boundary. With the rift between the plates, the Red Sea area continues to expand; The area is shrinking: The Mediterranean is located between the Asian-European and African plates, which belongs to the plate’s extinction boundary. With the squeeze and collision between the plates, the Mediterranean area continues to shrink.
The article is from the public number: national geographic Chinese network (ID: NationalGeographicCN) , author: national geographic