1972, desert sea: “The Mediterranean must have looked something like this six million years ago, when the basin was a great interior desert lying 10,000 feet below sea level. Some 5.5 million years ago, an opening was breached at the Strait of Gibraltar. The inrushing Atlantic water constituted a great waterfall. Within a few thousand years the desiccated Mediterranean would be filled to the brim.” Credit: Scientific American, Vol. 227, No. 6; December 1972
This article was originally published with the title “50, 100 & 150 Years Ago” in Scientific American 327, 6, 78 (December 2022)
doi:10.1038/scientificamerican1222-78
ABOUT THE AUTHOR(S)
Mark Fischetti is a senior editor at Scientific American. He covers all aspects of sustainability. Follow him on Twitter @markfischetti Credit: Nick Higgins
