Zanclean Deluge: The Megaflood That Created the Mediterranean Sea

Approximately five million years ago, the Mediterranean Sea did not exist. Instead, the area was a vast, scorching salt desert, completely isolated from the world's oceans due to tectonic shifts that had sealed off the Strait of Gibraltar. This extreme environment persisted for hundreds of thousands of years, creating a bizarre and alien landscape.

Then, in one of the most violent geological events in Earth's history, the Atlantic Ocean breached the land bridge. The resulting megaflood, know...