Strange Weather

That Time the Mediterranean Sea Disappeared



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How could a body of water as big as the Mediterranean just…disappear? It would take decades and more than 1,000 research studies to even start to figure out the cause — or causes — of one of the greatest vanishing acts in Earth’s history.

Special thanks to everyone at the MEDSALT project, including Aaron Micallef, Daniel Garcia-Castellanos, Angelo Camerlenghi, and Luca Mariani, for allowing us to use their incredible graphics and videos in this episode. Check out their work here: https://medsalt.eu/ and the full version of their incredible recreation of the MSC and the Zanclean Flood here: https://youtu.be/B5uW7Qg6rXM

This episode was written by Gabi Serrato Marks!

And thanks as always to Ceri Thomas (https://alphynix.tumblr.com/), Julio Lacerda (https://twitter.com/JulioTheArtist) and Franz Anthony (http://franzanth.com/) for their wonderful paleoart used in this episode.

Produced in collaboration with PBS Digital Studios: http://youtube.com/pbsdigitalstudios

Super special thanks to the following Patreon patrons for helping make Eons possible:
Anthony Callaghan, Jerrit Erickson, shelley floryd, Kevin Griffin, Laura Sanborn, Jack Arbuckle, David Sewall, Anton Bryl, Ben Thorson, Andrey, MissyElliottSmith, Zachary Spencer, Stefan Weber, Ilya Murashov, Robert Amling, Larry Wilson, Merri Snaidman, John Vanek, Esmeralda Rupp-Spangle, Gregory Donovan, Gabriel Cortez, Marcus Lejon, Robert ArΓ©valo, Robert Hill, Todd Dittman, Betsy Radley, PS, Philip Slingerland, Eric Vonk, Henrik Peteri, Jonathan Wright, Jon Monteiro, James Bording, Brad Nicholls, Miles Chaston, Michael McClellan, Jeff Graham, Maria Humphrey, Nathan Paskett, Daisuke Goto, Hubert Rady, Gregory Kintz, Tyson Cleary, Chandler Bass, Joao Ascensao, Tsee Lee, Alex Yan

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References: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1N9rMuWEPYTgzDhzb2FmwCsdhuBUktaZAeGOnKDJwbmk/edit?usp=sharing

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30 comments

@paul_anderson6_707 May 27, 2023 at 7:46 pm

Fiction. The basin was flooded though, around the 2200s BC.

@alessandrotrucchi8338 June 6, 2023 at 4:00 pm

So no Gibraltar Falls πŸ™

@user-sr5sn8bl3n June 11, 2023 at 11:03 am

Dec 27, 1019

@paulbergel9191 June 20, 2023 at 4:42 pm

We all know that the Strait of Gibraltar was created when Hercules smashed through the Atlas Mountains because he was too lazy to climb them. Why are we wasting our time with ice cores and giant rabbit nonsense? (I kid! This video was fascinating! Thank you PBS!)

@andrewcastillo5003 June 25, 2023 at 4:25 am

So what's up with the dead sea?

@joegallegos9109 July 13, 2023 at 5:04 am

I just got back from the Mediterranean… Targeted video perhaps?πŸ˜‚

@yeno7030 July 16, 2023 at 6:50 pm

If we don’t hear the name Steve at the end of the videos the world has ended.

@REB4444 July 19, 2023 at 4:10 am

Yeah, humans cause climate change. HAHAHAHA!

@successthruknowledge July 20, 2023 at 1:21 am

That was incredibly fascinating! I have read before that during paleo times there were jungle type hippopotamus and elephants and tigers and other species in Europe. I just figure they traveled the long way. I never knew they crossed a land bridge across the Mediterranean! πŸͺ¨πŸŒŠ

@elainemoreland3908 July 24, 2023 at 8:00 pm

Family from there and Spain. Thank you.

@senatorjosephmccarthy2720 July 29, 2023 at 6:51 am

It is impossible anything popped itself into existence; gravity, quarks, centrifugal force, light, carbon, water and all.
It is impossible those began their own existence, and close enough in time and space to cooperate in modifying themselves to higher states.
And without consciousness.

@user-wl5wj3ho5x August 14, 2023 at 7:25 pm

So it was global warming and other climate change. We weren’t around to cause it, but they certainly blame us now! WTH.

@maedesmond2461 August 15, 2023 at 5:04 pm

Did this affect humans/human relatives leaving Africa?

@duncanstewart6381 August 17, 2023 at 8:50 pm

Perhaps the extra weight of glaciers covering Europe during the Ice Age pushed the islands techtonic plate up. The level of the ocean has changed over time. This effect was shown in Florida, which rose from the sea as the Midwest was under a glacier for a thousand years. The potential sea water trapped in the ice formations in the northern hemisphere.

@sumerbc7409 August 17, 2023 at 9:20 pm

I'm from the flat plains of west Texas. We got Jack Rabbits out here that are over 3 feet tall when they sit up. As a kid we always saw the males standing up on their hind legs (now they are 4 feet tall) and boxing each other with front paws like fighters. We would bet on them, which one would win. These Huge Jack Rabbits can beat up dogs if they are not to big, cats beware.

@charlesc6011 August 18, 2023 at 6:40 pm

It wasn't a rabbit.

@shaniasalazar9934 August 25, 2023 at 3:06 pm

you no plan bed you evio

@larryandrews1676 August 28, 2023 at 10:41 pm

Why does she always say " thu earth." instead of "thee earth, in proper English?

@MeaHeaR September 5, 2023 at 4:50 am

Γ•MĞ Γ© PΓ΄WéŘ-PhΓ›ΔΎΔ½ OrrrsΓ©-StrΓ’ylΓͺan
😟😟😟😟😰😰😩😩😰😟😰😰😩😩😩😩😧😧😧😦😧😧😧😰😟😟😟😟😲😲😳😡😡😢😡😳

@mclarenscca September 19, 2023 at 2:05 am

I think it a higher probability that the pole flip happened, and this happened all at once over a decade or two! When this happens, it releases the earths crust, and the plates move quickly, and so do the oceans!

@elmagraham9506 September 29, 2023 at 7:24 pm

What hellish vocal fry!! Awful – I can't listen to her anymore.

@paulpetersen6539 October 2, 2023 at 7:07 pm

Beach Capybara

@yusrazohaid6182 October 10, 2023 at 9:23 pm

It's said in the Quran that the land is shrinking. Do you have any idea about the shrinking ?

@nickisnyder3450 October 14, 2023 at 7:40 am

This scientist has the most pleasant voice.

@tonyth1336 October 21, 2023 at 4:12 am

aw you’re married πŸ˜ͺ

@chantelleprince6652 November 16, 2023 at 6:20 pm

The reflooding of what we now call the Mediterranean sea only took 2 years! YIKES!!

@Hydrolysisisfun November 28, 2023 at 2:42 am

That sea level drop after the zanclean flood must’ve killed off all the coastal ecosystems.

@nocturnal101ravenous6 November 30, 2023 at 3:02 pm

Considering the amount of Ruins and temples in that region that are under water, I am pretty sure more now that we are coming more so out of the mini ice age, Also interestingly the Decline of Egyptian Empire was documented by the Egyptians as they seen the land change and the Nile become smaller, this could actually explain a great deal, for reference though you would have to cross check this with the Iliad from Homer and Odysseus Journey at 500BC.
Seriously though screw the Italians, If they wouldn't have been stupid and burned down the Library of Alexandria we would have a more complete human record and more historical context.

@bobwelke3308 December 3, 2023 at 11:48 pm

So you might want to book that Mediterranean cruise before it becomes a Mediterranean hike.

@jeromefitzroy December 10, 2023 at 3:03 am

Miniature elephants? What a waste!

Comments are closed.