That Time the Mediterranean Sea Disappeared

How could a body of water as big as the Mediterranean just...disappear? It would take decades and more than 1,000 research studies to even start to figure out the cause -- or causes -- of one of the greatest vanishing acts in Earth’s history.

This episode was written by Gabi Serrato Marks!

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[atvaddiction]

New hypothesis: the giant beavers dammed it up

[diebesgrab]

“it could possibly happen again”

I guess that’d be one way to stop Venice sinking.

[lucasbaker]

Subtle brag, my grandfather was a key member of the original team to discover the Mediterranean had dried up. It had something to do with looking for oil, and finding what looked like a river valley extending from the Nile river delta on the sea floor, along with what looked like multiple deltas under the sea.
Edit: this happened in the 60s by the way.

[dinocharlie]

Eons every video: "Here's one theory"
Me: "That makes sense"
Eons: "But this theory is wrong"
Me: "Of course it is, that idea makes no sense"

[sambeck]

The illustration for that rabbit looks like a capybara

[MrAtrophy]

I don't know what I want more a giant rabbit, or a tiny hippo.

[Zia]

This makes me wonder about the salt deposits and a story my mom used to tell us long ago.
Being born and raised in Calabria Italy, until her early 40's before migrating (legally) to the U.S., Calabria was a short ferry ride to Sicily...she would tell us stories of women going Sicily to smuggle salt placed in pockets in their undergarments which was illegal to purchase in order to bring back to the mainland. She had said that the salt from Sicily was far much better quality than the salt they were able to purchase in Calabria and smuggling it out of Sicily was a common practice among the Calabrese.

[gregoryeatroff]

There's an award-winning science fiction story called "Down in the Bottomlands" about humans evolving in a world where the Mediterranean never refilled.

[mirhasanoddname]

This sole phenomena happened during 600.000 years... it truly feels like a slap to the face how short is our time on Earth compared to it's history

[DISTurbedwaffle]

"Tectonic shifts let the water flow back in."
Fools, it was Heracles, noble Greek hero and son of Zeus, who split the rock of Gibraltar in twain!

[anxiousfoodperson]

"They named this big bunny nuralagus rex"
Was Chungus Magnus taken?

[gaucidaniel]

Her explanations are so easy -to-follow and drift so well from one point to the next

[MattMajcan]

wow that graphic showing the flow of water through the medditerranian was awesome

[ontaka]

This giant bunny must have been the rabbit that massacred the knights in the "Monty Python and the Holy Grail".

[smacpost]

I once found a giant dust bunny in the geographic zone between my bed and the wall.

[TheHaz]

Small correction, in the video the presenter mentions that the last time Sicily and Malta were connected was during the MSC (~5 Mya), but we know that there was a land bridge connecting the islands during the peak of the last ice age (~ 20 Kya).

[LPArabia]

The American football field, a scientific unit of length and area.

[shishgeor]

It was actually a group of ancient giant beavers that build a dam. Scientists always make it complicated.

[sheriherrick]

I absolutely LOVE these videos! I LOVE learning about just about everything (now that I'm an adult) and the way these are put together and the people who are narrating do it in a way that people of all ages can understand and makes it more interesting to keep people's attention. They are just long enough! Thank you all for the hard work you put into all these videos & keep them coming please!

[dlo]

Hands down my favourite new YT channel. Where has this been all my life?