When The Mediterranean Sea Dried Up

Nearly six million years ago, the Mediterranean Sea began to disappear. Cut off from the Atlantic, it evaporated faster than its rivers could refill it, and left behind about a million cubic kilometres of salt — in places kilometres thick, and still buried under the seafloor today. Chapters 0:00 Intro 1:21 The Sea We Know 3:45 Salt in the Abyss 7:07 The Closing Gate 9:45 The Salt Clock 13:01 The Deepest Desert 16:46 The Flood 19:57 The Fight Over the Flood 23:09 Ghosts of the Dry Sea Some scenes are artist's impressions created with AI and are labelled on screen. Maps, profiles and 3D scenes are our own, built from the data credited below. -- Sources (DOI) -- Discovery Hsü, Ryan & Cita 1973 Nature · doi.org/10.1038/242240a0 Ryan 2023 Riv Nuovo Cimento · doi.org/10.1007/s40766-023-00042-9 Ryan 2009 Sedimentology · doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3091.2008.01031.x The sea and the gate Tanhua 2013 Ocean Sci · doi.org/10.5194/os-9-789-2013 Meijer & Krijgsman 2005 EPSL · doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2005.09.029 Capella 2018 Earth-Sci Rev · doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2018.02.017 Krijgsman 2018 Mar Geol · doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2018.06.008 Garcia-Castellanos & Villaseñor 2011 Nature · doi.org/10.1038/nature10651 Fernandes 2007 GJI · doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-246X.2006.03252.x Salt and time Krijgsman 2024 Nat Rev Earth Environ · doi.org/10.1038/s43017-024-00533-1 Manzi 2013 Terra Nova · doi.org/10.1111/ter.12038 Roveri 2014 Mar Geol · doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2014.02.002 Krijgsman 1999 Nature · doi.org/10.1038/23231 Lugli 2010 Palaeo3 · doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2010.07.017 Larrasoaña 2013 PLoS ONE · doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0076514 How far it fell Aloisi 2024 Nat Commun · doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-53781-6 Gvirtzman 2022 Commun Earth Environ · doi.org/10.1038/s43247-022-00540-4 Bosworth & Mitchell 2026 Palaeo3 · doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2026.113680 Roveri, Lugli & Manzi 2025 Annu Rev Mar Sci · doi.org/10.1146/annurev-marine-021723-110155 Life Agiadi 2024 Science · doi.org/10.1126/science.adp3703 Mas 2018 Geology · doi.org/10.1130/G40260.1 Bover 2016 Holocene · doi.org/10.1177/0959683616645945 Quintana 2011 J Vertebr Paleontol · doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2011.550367 Agustí 2026 Fossil Record · doi.org/10.3897/fr.29.190187 Andreetto 2021 Earth-Sci Rev · doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2021.103577 The flood Garcia-Castellanos 2009 Nature · doi.org/10.1038/nature08555 Garcia-Castellanos 2020 Earth-Sci Rev · doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2019.103061 Micallef 2018 Sci Rep · doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-19446-3 Micallef 2024 Commun Earth Environ · doi.org/10.1038/s43247-024-01972-w García-Castellanos 2025 Sci Adv · doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.ads9752 Today van der Wielen 2005 Science · doi.org/10.1126/science.1103569 Duarte 2024 Geology · doi.org/10.1130/G51654.1 -- Credits -- Bathymetry & relief: GEBCO Compilation Group (2026) GEBCO 2026 Grid (doi:10.5285/4f68d5c7-45eb-f999-e063-7086abc036fa); EMODnet Bathymetry Consortium, EMODnet Digital Bathymetry (DTM 2022, DTM 2024), CC BY 4.0, modified. Elevation: Copernicus DEM GLO-30, produced using Copernicus WorldDEM-30 © DLR e.V. 2010-2014 and © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH 2014-2018 provided under COPERNICUS by the European Union and ESA; all rights reserved. Land cover: © ESA WorldCover project 2021 / Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2021) processed by ESA WorldCover consortium (CC BY 4.0). Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2025. NASA Earth Observatory: Blue Marble NG (R. Stöckli), bathymetry (J. Allen; GEBCO/BODC). Maps: Natural Earth. Plate boundaries: PB2002 (Bird 2003). DSDP Initial Reports Vol. 13 (1973; Zenodo, CC BY 4.0). IODP Exp. 401 photos: Simon George & IODP (CC BY 4.0); JOIDES Resolution: Arito Sakaguchi & IODP/TAMU. Photos via Wikimedia Commons: NASA Earth Observatory; NASA/Zena Cardman; J. Spear, USGS; NOAA Photo Library; G. T. Taylor, Stony Brook Univ.; Vitális István (PD); Vassil, Daderot, Retratista de paisajes y paisanajes (CC0); M. C. Rygel, BacLuong, F. Losada Rodríguez, Massimo Saviotti, Dadonene89, Federico Lugli, Benlilkon93, Hein56didden, Patafisik, Orniosviajero (CC BY-SA 4.0); Alex Sergeev (CC BY-SA 3.0); Gaianauta, Baldomorejon (CC BY-SA 3.0 ES); Diego Delso (CC BY 3.0); philippe.hemmel (CC BY 2.0). Silhouettes: PhyloPic (S. Traver, F. Sayol, D. Stadtmauer, CC0; K. R. Caspar, CC BY 3.0). Stock video: Pexels. Music: Eleven Music (ElevenLabs). Sound effects: synthesized for this video. #mediterranean #geology