According to some authors, the Messinian salinity crisis was ended by a giant waterfall or megaflood 5.33 million years ago, when the Atlantic Ocean reconnected in a catastrophic way with the desiccated Mediterranean, creating the Strait of Gibraltar. An erosional surface deeply cutting upper Miocene or older rocks and sealed by lower Pliocene sediments is the geological feature that inspired this fascinating hypothesis. The hypothesis, which recalls several ancient myths, is well established in the scientific community and often considered to be a fact. However, several studies are suggesting that the Atlantic–Mediterranean connection through the Strait of Gibraltar was probably active before and during the entire Messinian salinity crisis. This allows us to consider the possibility that long-lived, more gradual physical processes were responsible for the evolution of the strait, opening the idea of a nondesiccated Mediterranean Sea.

中文翻译：

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地中海的干燥和灾难性再填充：围绕迈锡尼亚盐度危机的 50 年事实、假设和神话


根据一些作者的说法，533 万年前，当大西洋以灾难性的方式与干涸的地中海重新连接时，迈锡尼亚盐度危机被一场巨大的瀑布或特大洪水所结束，形成了直布罗陀海峡。侵蚀表面深切上中新世或较老的岩石，并被下上新世沉积物密封，是激发这一迷人假说的地质特征。这个假说让人想起几个古老的神话，在科学界已经得到充分确立，并且经常被认为是事实。然而，一些研究表明，通过直布罗陀海峡的大西洋-地中海连接可能在整个迈锡尼亚盐度危机之前和期间都很活跃。这使我们能够考虑这样一种可能性，即长期、更渐进的物理过程是导致海峡演变的原因，从而开启了未干燥的地中海的想法。