Messinian crisis & Mediterranean refilling

Exploration · Neogene

Messinian crisis & Mediterranean refilling

Starting point · 5.33 Ma

Restricted Atlantic exchange left enormous salt deposits in the Mediterranean between 5.97 and 5.33 million years ago. Marine conditions returned around 5.33 million years ago; Sicilian erosion features support a rapid refilling flood. How far water levels fell, and exactly how refilling unfolded, remain debated.