The Paratheth Sea is twelve million years older than the Mediterranean today. A new study, often referred to as the largest lake in Earth’s history, examined the causes of its disappearance.

Part of the waters of the ancient Tethys Sea became isolated when the ancient sea formed during the Oligocene was raised by the Parrotites, the Alps, the Carpathians, the Dinarids, the Torres and the Elbers from northern Iran.

To its greatest extent, it is a body of water extending from the Eastern Alps to present-day Kazakhstan. 2.8 million square kilometers And contains more of it 1.77 million cubic kilometers of water. By comparison, freshwater and saltwater lakes today contain more than ten times the amount of water they contain.

In a recent essay, paleontologist Dan Palku and his team from the University of Sao Paulo (Brazil) collect clues from geological fossil records and determine the surrounding changes that led to its disappearance.

These works were published in the journal Scientific reports, Point out four climate changes that have significantly shortened the life of the lake by five million years.

If it had been wiped out between 7.65 million and 7.9 million years ago, the largest episode of the contraction would have caused the water level to drop by about 250 meters. During this episode, the paratroopers will then have It lost one-third of its water and two-thirds of it. As a result, salinity would have increased significantly in the central basin (the outline of the present Black Sea).

Disappearances and births

At that time, there was a parasite of a variety of sea areas. Most of the cetaceans and other seals that evolved in this water were “miniature versions” of what is found in the high seas today, making it ideal for living in this restricted environment. Cetotherium riabinini; For example, a whale that is only three meters long. It is the smallest whale ever found in a fossil record.

According to the researchers, these changes were not naturally the result of this marine life. Unlike single-celled algae and other small, free-floating organisms, many species did not survive. However, since this is the life cycle, these disappearances occur later Favored the emergence of new species They evolve into newly exposed shores and become fertile grasslands.

To the north of the Parrotis, the fossils bear witness to repeated long-term climatic changes, and the fossil record highlights the presence of modern sheep and their ancestors.

The ancestral form of giraffes and the first are now located in western Iran. Elephants. 6.25 million to 8.75 million years ago, happened by a long dry mantras The researchers suggest that this species may have to migrate to Africa to the southwest.

Paratetis finally “died” a few years ago. 6.7 to 6.9 million years ago Following the creation of an erosion gift outlet at the southwest end of the lake. This outlet, which sank under the Aegean Sea today, would certainly give birth to a small river, which eventually found its way to the Mediterranean.