Mediterranean Might Have Filled In Months 224
An anonymous reader writes "A new model suggests that the Mediterranean Sea was filled in a gigantic flood some 5.3 million years ago. According to Daniel Garcia-Castellanos' paper in Nature, the sill at the Straight of Gibraltar gave way rather suddenly, with 40 cm of rock eroding and the water level rising by 10 m per day at its peak. They imagine a shallow, fast-moving stream of water (around 100 km/hr) several kilometers wide pouring into the basin with a flow greater than a thousand Amazon rivers — that's about 100,000,000 cubic meters per second." The flood would have dropped worldwide sea levels by 9.5 meters, probably triggering climate changes. In this model the Mediterranean filled in anywhere from a few months to two years at the outside.
Roland Emmerich (Score:5, Funny)
5 million? (Score:4, Funny)
Re:5 million? (Score:2, Funny)
Are you sure that flood didn't happen 5 thousand years ago?
This man is right. Read all about it right here: http://conservapedia.com/Great_Flood
Video please? (Score:4, Funny)
This story would be much cooler with a video clip.
Re:Yet another great /. science discussion kicks o (Score:5, Funny)
Well, before that, it was a lake. Where do you think the aliens stole all the water from?! It was freshwater then, of course. Sadly the Sahara Forest never recovered.
Comment removed (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Roland Emmerich (Score:5, Funny)
And that filled the Mediterrean? Might explain the water quality...
Re:Video please? (Score:2, Funny)
Pix or didn't happen.
Re:Geo-engineering (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:5 million? (Score:5, Funny)
Me personally, I would have *loved* to have been born BC. That way, we count down our age, and your friends would greet you with, 'You're looking younger; how *do* you manage it' with each birthday!
In MONTHS? (Score:3, Funny)
Climate change!!?? (Score:3, Funny)
"The flood would have dropped worldwide sea levels by 9.5 meters, probably triggering climate changes."
OMG, something MUST be done to revert the planet to it's pre-Mediterranean-Sea-filling pristine state, or you will all rot in Al Gore's climate Purgatory!
Documentation (Score:4, Funny)
And you just know there are cave drawings somewhere showing jackasses trying to body surf in it.
Re:5 million? (Score:4, Funny)
You must be a hit at parties.
Re:How do you think stories got started? (Score:3, Funny)
The Easter Bunny, for example.
Re:Geo-engineering (Score:4, Funny)
Wow, is the site really gone? Wait, here are the new club rules:
http://www.eviloverlord.com/lists/overlord.html [eviloverlord.com]
"Straight" of Gibraltar (Score:4, Funny)
According to Daniel Garcia-Castellanos' paper in Nature, the sill at the Straight of Gibraltar gave way rather suddenly, with 40 cm of rock eroding and the water level rising by 10 m per day at its peak.
I'm relieved to know the Strait of Gibraltar is not gay; I was convinced he was hitting on me the other day.
Re:Roland Emmerich (Score:2, Funny)
Because they're too attached to the preproccessorex and compilerex.