Uplift of the shores of the western Mediterranean due to Messinian desiccation and flexural isostasy

During the Messinian Stage (5.5 Myr, Miocene/Pliocene boundary) the 4.2×10 23 m 3 of water that now fills the Mediterranean evaporated. Evidence for this includes palaeogorges 1 km below the present Nile and Rhone valleys and evaporite deposits, sampled by cores and deep-sea drilling 1,2 , that are...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature (London) 1986-07, Vol.322 (6078), p.450-451
Main Authors: Norman, Sonya E, Chase, Clement G
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Earth sciences
Earth, ocean, space
Exact sciences and technology
Humanities and Social Sciences
letter
Marine
multidisciplinary
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Tectonics. Structural geology. Plate tectonics
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Summary:During the Messinian Stage (5.5 Myr, Miocene/Pliocene boundary) the 4.2×10 23 m 3 of water that now fills the Mediterranean evaporated. Evidence for this includes palaeogorges 1 km below the present Nile and Rhone valleys and evaporite deposits, sampled by cores and deep-sea drilling 1,2 , that are thicker than 1 km over much of the Mediterranean 3 . Two-dimensional flexure models, presented here, indicate that the regionally compensated crustal upwarping from removal of the seawater load would lead to a Messinian geomorphology with an uplifted Mediterranean basin and shoreline bulges along its northwestern and southeastern coasts. These shoreline bulges would cause a reversal of downhill gradient direction in areas with low original seaward slopes. Such a profile would lead to a landward reversal of drainage in rivers with low discharge.
ISSN:0028-0836
1476-4687
DOI:10.1038/322450a0