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The Learning Kingdom's Cool Fact of the Day for May 13, 1999
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What great sea evaporated and was refilled?
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Millions of years ago, the land at what is now the Straits of
Gibraltar rose up, blocking off the connection between the
Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Slowly the sun did its
work, and the Mediterranean Sea evaporated, leaving behind vast layers
of salt and a few shallow salt lakes.
Geological changes continued at their slow pace. One day about five
million years ago, the Atlantic Ocean finally burst through again, and
a torrent of seawater began refilling the basin. Centuries later, the
Mediterranean Sea was full again.
A very similar event happened around 5650 BC at the mouth of what is
now the Black Sea. Once a freshwater lake, that body of water is now
much larger, containing salt water that flooded in through the
Bosporus.
Some historians relate the Black Sea deluge to Noah's Flood:
http://www.sciam.com/1999/0299issue/0299wonders.html
The fascinating history of the Rock of Gibraltar:
http://www.nexus-pt.com/news/esc2port/gibhis.htm
More Cool Facts about oceans and seas:
http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1997/03/16.html
http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1997/07/11.html
http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1998/10/08.html
http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1998/10/20.html
http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1998/10/28.html
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