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Mediterranean Sea

January 01, 1970

"Mediterranean" redirects here. For other uses, see Mediterranean (disambiguation).

The Mediterranean Sea (/ˌmɛdɪtəˈreɪniən/ MED-ih-tə-RAY-nee-ən) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant in West Asia. The Mediterranean has played a central role in the history of Western civilization. Geological evidence indicates that around 5.9 million years ago the Mediterranean was cut off from the Atlantic and was partly or completely desiccated over a period of some 600,000 years during the Messinian salinity crisis before being refilled by the Zanclean flood about 5.3 million years ago.

Mediterranean Sea
Map of the Mediterranean Sea
Location
Coordinates35°N 18°E / 35°N 18°E / 35; 18
TypeSea
Primary inflowsAtlantic Ocean, Sea of Marmara, Nile, Ebro, Rhône, Chelif, Po
Basin countries
Coastal countries:
Surface area2,500,000 km2 (970,000 sq mi)
Average depth1,500 m (4,900 ft)
Max. depth5,109 m (16,762 ft) ±1 m (3 ft)
Water volume3,750,000 km3 (900,000 cu mi)
Residence time80–100 years[1]
Max. temperature28 °C (82 °F)
Min. temperature12 °C (54 °F)
Islands3300+
Settlements

The Mediterranean Sea covers an area of about 2,500,000 km2 (970,000 sq mi),[2] representing 0.7% of the global ocean surface, but its connection to the Atlantic via the Strait of Gibraltar—the narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates the Iberian Peninsula in Europe from Morocco in Africa—is only 14 km (9 mi) wide. The Mediterranean Sea encompasses a vast number of islands, some of them of volcanic origin. The two largest islands, in both area and population, are Sicily and Sardinia.

The Mediterranean Sea has an average depth of 1,500 m (4,900 ft) and the deepest recorded point is 5,109 m (16,762 ft) ±1 m (3 ft) in the Calypso Deep in the Ionian Sea. It lies between latitudes 30° and 46° N and longitudes 6° W and 36° E. Its west–east length, from the Strait of Gibraltar to the Gulf of Alexandretta, on the southeastern coast of Turkey, is about 4,000 kilometres (2,500 mi). The north–south length varies greatly between different shorelines and whether only straight routes are considered. Also including longitudinal changes, the shortest shipping route between the multinational Gulf of Trieste and the Libyan coastline of the Gulf of Sidra is about 1,900 kilometres (1,200 mi). The water temperatures are mild in winter and warm in summer and give name to the Mediterranean climate type due to the majority of precipitation falling in the cooler months. Its southern and eastern coastlines are lined with hot deserts not far inland, but the immediate coastline on all sides of the Mediterranean tends to have strong maritime moderation.

The sea was an important route for merchants and travellers of ancient times, facilitating trade and cultural exchange between the peoples of the region. The history of the Mediterranean region is crucial to understanding the origins and development of many modern societies. The Roman Empire maintained nautical hegemony over the sea for centuries and is the only state to have ever controlled all of its coast.

The countries surrounding the Mediterranean and its marginal seas in clockwise order are Spain, France, Monaco, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, Greece, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco; Malta and Cyprus are island countries in the sea. In addition, Gibraltar, an overseas territory of the United Kingdom, is located on the coast of the Mediterranean. The drainage basin encompasses a large number of other countries, the Nile being the longest river ending in the Mediterranean Sea.[3]

Names and etymology edit

 
Wadj-Ur, or Wadj-Wer, ancient Egyptian name of the Mediterranean Sea
 
With its highly indented coastline and large number of islands, Greece has the longest Mediterranean coastline.

The Ancient Egyptians called the Mediterranean Wadj-wr/Wadj-Wer/Wadj-Ur. This term (literally "great green") was the name given by the Ancient Egyptians to the semi-solid, semi-aquatic region characterized by papyrus forests to the north of the cultivated Nile delta, and, by extension, the sea beyond.[4]

The Ancient Greeks called the Mediterranean simply ἡ θάλασσα (hē thálassa; "the Sea") or sometimes ἡ μεγάλη θάλασσα (hē megálē thálassa; "the Great Sea"), ἡ ἡμετέρα θάλασσα (hē hēmetérā thálassa; "Our Sea"), or ἡ θάλασσα ἡ καθ'ἡμᾶς (hē thálassa hē kath’hēmâs; "the sea around us").

The Romans called it Mare Magnum ("Great Sea") or Mare Internum ("Internal Sea") and, starting with the Roman Empire, Mare Nostrum ("Our Sea"). The term Mare Mediterrāneum appears later: Solinus apparently used this in the 3rd century, but the earliest extant witness to it is in the 6th century, in Isidore of Seville.[5][6] It means 'in the middle of land, inland' in Latin, a compound of medius ("middle"), terra ("land, earth"), and -āneus ("having the nature of").

The modern Greek name Μεσόγειος Θάλασσα (mesógeios; "inland") is a calque of the Latin name, from μέσος (mésos, "in the middle") and γήινος (gḗinos, "of the earth"), from γῆ (gê, "land, earth"). The original meaning may have been 'the sea in the middle of the earth', rather than 'the sea enclosed by land'.[7][8]

Ancient Iranians called it the "Roman Sea", and in Classical Persian texts, it was called Daryāy-e Rōm (دریای روم), which may be from Middle Persian form, Zrēh ī Hrōm (𐭦𐭫𐭩𐭤 𐭩 𐭤𐭫𐭥𐭬).[9]

The Carthaginians called it the "Syrian Sea". In ancient Syrian texts, Phoenician epics and in the Hebrew Bible, it was primarily known as the "Great Sea", הים הגדול HaYam HaGadol, (Numbers; Book of Joshua; Ezekiel) or simply as "The Sea" (1 Kings). However, it has also been called the "Hinder Sea" because of its location on the west coast of Greater Syria or the Holy Land (and therefore behind a person facing the east), which is sometimes translated as "Western Sea". Another name was the "Sea of the Philistines", (Book of Exodus), from the people inhabiting a large portion of its shores near the Israelites. In Modern Hebrew, it is called הים התיכון HaYam HaTikhon 'the Middle Sea'.[10] In Classic Persian texts was called Daryāy-e Šām (دریای شام) "The Western Sea" or "Syrian Sea".[11]

In Modern Standard Arabic, it is known as al-Baḥr [al-Abyaḍ] al-Mutawassiṭ (البحر [الأبيض] المتوسط) 'the [White] Middle Sea'. In Islamic and older Arabic literature, it was Baḥr al-Rūm(ī) (بحر الروم or بحر الرومي) 'the Sea of the Romans' or 'the Roman Sea'. At first, that name referred only to the eastern Mediterranean, but the term was later extended to the whole Mediterranean. Other Arabic names were Baḥr al-šām(ī) (بحر الشام) ("the Sea of Syria") and Baḥr al-Maghrib (بحرالمغرب) ("the Sea of the West").[12][6]

In Turkish, it is the Akdeniz 'the White Sea'; in Ottoman, ﺁق دڭيز, which sometimes means only the Aegean Sea.[13] The origin of the name is not clear, as it is not known in earlier Greek, Byzantine or Islamic sources. It may be to contrast with the Black Sea.[12][10][14] In Persian, the name was translated as Baḥr-i Safīd, which was also used in later Ottoman Turkish.[12] Similarly, in 19th century Greek, the name was Άσπρη Θάλασσα (áspri thálassa; "white sea").[15][16]

According to Johann Knobloch, in classical antiquity, cultures in the Levant used colours to refer to the cardinal points: black referred to the north (explaining the name Black Sea), yellow or blue to east, red to south (e.g., the Red Sea) and white to west. That would explain the Bulgarian Byalo More, the Turkish Akdeniz, and the Arab nomenclature described above, lit. "White Sea".[17]

History edit

Main article: History of the Mediterranean region

Ancient civilizations edit

 
Greek (red) and Phoenician (yellow) colonies in antiquity c. the 6th century BC
 
  The Roman Empire at its farthest extent in AD 117

Major ancient civilizations were located around the Mediterranean. The sea provided routes for trade, colonization, and war, as well as food (from fishing and the gathering of other seafood) for numerous communities throughout the ages.[18] The earliest advanced civilizations in the Mediterranean were the Egyptians and the Minoans, who traded extensively with each other. Other notable civilizations that appeared somewhat later are the Hittites and other Anatolian peoples, the Phoenicians, and Mycenean Greece. Around 1200 BC the eastern Mediterranean was greatly affected by the Bronze Age Collapse, which resulted in the destruction of many cities and trade routes.

The most notable Mediterranean civilizations in classical antiquity were the Greek city states and the Phoenicians, both of which extensively colonized the coastlines of the Mediterranean.

Darius I of Persia, who conquered Ancient Egypt, built a canal linking the Red Sea to the Nile, and thus the Mediterranean. Darius's canal was wide enough for two triremes to pass each other with oars extended and required four days to traverse.[19]

Following the Punic Wars in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC, the Roman Republic defeated the Carthaginians to become the preeminent power in the Mediterranean. When Augustus founded the Roman Empire, the Romans referred to the Mediterranean as Mare Nostrum ("Our Sea"). For the next 400 years, the Roman Empire completely controlled the Mediterranean Sea and virtually all its coastal regions from Gibraltar to the Levant, being the only state in history to ever do so, being given the nickname "Roman Lake".

Middle Ages and empires edit

The Western Roman Empire collapsed around 476 AD. The east was again dominant as Roman power lived on in the Byzantine Empire formed in the 4th century from the eastern half of the Roman Empire. Though the Eastern Roman Empire would continue to hold almost all of the Mediterranean, another power arose in the 7th century, and with it the religion of Islam, which soon swept across from the east; at its greatest extent, the Arabs, under the Umayyads, controlled most of the Mediterranean region and left a lasting footprint on its eastern and southern shores.

The Arab invasions disrupted the trade relations between Western and Eastern Europe while disrupting trade routes with Eastern Asian Empires. This, however, had the indirect effect of promoting trade across the Caspian Sea. The export of grains from Egypt was re-routed towards the Eastern world. Products from East Asian empires, like silk and spices, were carried from Egypt to ports like Venice and Constantinople by sailors and Jewish merchants. The Viking raids further disrupted the trade in western Europe and brought it to a halt. However, the Norsemen developed the trade from Norway to the White Sea, while also trading in luxury goods from Spain and the Mediterranean. The Byzantines in the mid-8th century retook control of the area around the north-eastern part of the Mediterranean. Venetian ships from the 9th century armed themselves to counter the harassment by Arabs while concentrating trade of Asian goods in Venice.[20]

 
The Battle of Lepanto, 1571, ended in victory for the European Holy League against the Ottoman Turks.

The Fatimids maintained trade relations with the Italian city-states like Amalfi and Genoa before the Crusades, according to the Cairo Geniza documents. A document dated 996 mentions Amalfian merchants living in Cairo. Another letter states that the Genoese had traded with Alexandria. The caliph al-Mustansir had allowed Amalfian merchants to reside in Jerusalem about 1060 in place of the Latin hospice.[21]

The Crusades led to the flourishing of trade between Europe and the outremer region.[22] Genoa, Venice and Pisa created colonies in regions controlled by the Crusaders and came to control the trade with the Orient. These colonies also allowed them to trade with the Eastern world. Though the fall of the Crusader states and attempts at banning of trade relations with Muslim states by the Popes temporarily disrupted the trade with the Orient, it however continued.[23]

Europe started to revive, however, as more organized and centralized states began to form in the later Middle Ages after the Renaissance of the 12th century.

 
The bombardment of Algiers by the Anglo-Dutch fleet in support of an ultimatum to release European slaves, August 1816

Ottoman power based in Anatolia continued to grow, and in 1453 extinguished the Byzantine Empire with the Conquest of Constantinople. Ottomans gained control of much of the eastern part sea in the 16th century and also maintained naval bases in southern France (1543–1544), Algeria and Tunisia. Barbarossa, the Ottoman captain is a symbol of this domination with the victory of the Battle of Preveza (1538). The Battle of Djerba (1560) marked the apex of Ottoman naval domination in the eastern Mediterranean. As the naval prowess of the European powers increased, they confronted Ottoman expansion in the region when the Battle of Lepanto (1571) checked the power of the Ottoman Navy. This was the last naval battle to be fought primarily between galleys.

The Barbary pirates of Northwest Africa preyed on Christian shipping and coastlines in the Western Mediterranean Sea.[24] According to Robert Davis, from the 16th to 19th centuries, pirates captured 1 million to 1.25 million Europeans as slaves.[25]

The development of oceanic shipping began to affect the entire Mediterranean. Once, most of the trade between Western Europe and the East was passing through the region, but after the 1490s the development of a sea route to the Indian Ocean allowed the importation of Asian spices and other goods through the Atlantic ports of western Europe.[26][27][28]

The sea remained strategically important. British mastery of Gibraltar ensured their influence in Africa and Southwest Asia. Especially after the naval battles of Abukir (1799, Battle of the Nile) and Trafalgar (1805), the British had for a long time strengthened their dominance in the Mediterranean.[29] Wars included Naval warfare in the Mediterranean during World War I and Mediterranean theatre of World War II.

With the opening of the lockless Suez Canal in 1869, the flow of trade between Europe and Asia changed fundamentally. The fastest route now led through the Mediterranean towards East Africa and Asia. This led to a preference for the Mediterranean countries and their ports like Trieste with direct connections to Central and Eastern Europe experienced a rapid economic rise. In the 20th century, the 1st and 2nd World Wars as well as the Suez Crisis and the Cold War led to a shift of trade routes to the European northern ports, which changed again towards the southern ports through European integration, the activation of the Silk Road and free world trade.[30]

21st century and migrations edit

Further information: European migrant crisis, List of migrant vessel incidents on the Mediterranean Sea, and Timeline of the European migrant crisis
 
Satellite image of the Mediterranean Sea at night

In 2013, the Maltese president described the Mediterranean Sea as a "cemetery" due to the large number of migrants who drowned there after their boats capsized.[31] European Parliament president Martin Schulz said in 2014 that Europe's migration policy "turned the Mediterranean into a graveyard", referring to the number of drowned refugees in the region as a direct result of the policies.[32] An Azerbaijani official described the sea as "a burial ground ... where people die".[33]

Following the 2013 Lampedusa migrant shipwreck, the Italian government decided to strengthen the national system for the patrolling of the Mediterranean Sea by authorising "Operation Mare Nostrum", a military and humanitarian mission in order to rescue the migrants and arrest the traffickers of immigrants. In 2015, more than one million migrants crossed the Mediterranean Sea into Europe.[34]

Italy was particularly affected by the European migrant crisis. Since 2013, over 700,000 migrants have landed in Italy,[35] mainly sub-Saharan Africans.[36]

Geography edit

 
A satellite image showing the Mediterranean Sea. The Strait of Gibraltar appears in the bottom left (north-west) quarter of the image; to its left is the Iberian Peninsula in Europe, and to its right, the Maghreb in Africa.
 
The Dardanelles strait in Turkey. The north (upper) side forms part of Europe (the Gelibolu Peninsula in the Thrace region); on the south (lower) side is Anatolia in Asia.

The Mediterranean Sea connects:

The 163 km (101 mi) long artificial Suez Canal in the southeast connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea without ship lock, because the water level is essentially the same.[10][37]

The westernmost point of the Mediterranean is located at the transition from the Alborán Sea to the Strait of Gibraltar, the easternmost point is on the coast of the Gulf of Iskenderun in southeastern Turkey. The northernmost point of the Mediterranean is on the coast of the Gulf of Trieste near Monfalcone in northern Italy while the southernmost point is on the coast of the Gulf of Sidra near the Libyan town of El Agheila.

Large islands in the Mediterranean include:

The Alpine arc, which also has a great meteorological impact on the Mediterranean area, touches the Mediterranean in the west in the area around Nice.

The typical Mediterranean climate has hot, dry summers and mild, rainy winters. Crops of the region include olives, grapes, oranges, tangerines, carobs and cork.

Marginal seas edit

 
The Elaphiti Islands off the coast of Croatia; the Adriatic Sea contains over 1200 islands and islets.
 
Es Malvins, Balearic Sea
 
The Ionian Sea, view from the island Lefkada, Greece

The Mediterranean Sea includes 15 marginal seas:[38][failed verification]

Number Sea Area (km2) Marginal countries and territories
1 Libyan Sea 350,000 Libya, Turkey, Greece, Malta, Italy
2 Levantine Sea 320,000 Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Egypt, Greece, Cyprus, Akrotiri & Dhekelia
3 Tyrrhenian Sea 275,000 Italy, France
4 Aegean Sea 214,000 Greece, Turkey
5 Icarian Sea (Part of Aegean) Greece
6 Myrtoan Sea (Part of Aegean) Greece
7 Thracian Sea (Part of Aegean) Greece, Turkey
8 Ionian Sea 169,000 Greece, Albania, Italy
9 Balearic Sea 150,000 Spain
10 Adriatic Sea 138,000 Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Italy, Montenegro, Slovenia
11 Sea of Sardinia 120,000 Italy, Spain
12 Sea of Crete 95,000 (Part of Aegean) Greece[39]
13 Ligurian Sea 80,000 Italy, France
14 Alboran Sea 53,000 Spain, Morocco, Algeria, Gibraltar
15 Sea of Marmara 11,500 Turkey
– Other ~500,000 Consists of gulfs, straits, channels and other parts that do not have the name of a specific sea.
Total Mediterranean Sea ~2,500,000

Note 1: The International Hydrographic Organization defines the area as generic Mediterranean Sea, in the Western Basin. It does not recognize the label Sea of Sardinia.[40]

Note 2: Thracian Sea and Myrtoan Sea are seas that are part of the Aegean Sea.

Note 3: The Black Sea is not considered part of it.

Extent edit

See also: List of drainage basins by area
 
Borders of the Mediterranean Sea

The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Mediterranean Sea as follows:[40] Stretching from the Strait of Gibraltar in the west to the entrances to the Dardanelles and the Suez Canal in the east, the Mediterranean Sea is bounded by the coasts of Europe, Africa, and Asia and is divided into two deep basins:

Hydrography edit

 
Approximate extent of the Mediterranean drainage basin (dark green). Nile basin only partially shown

The drainage basin of the Mediterranean Sea is particularly heterogeneous and extends much further than the Mediterranean region.[41] Its size has been estimated between 4,000,000 km2 (1,500,000 sq mi) and 5,500,000 km2 (2,100,000 sq mi),[note 1] depending on whether non-active parts (deserts) are included or not.[42][43][44] The longest river ending in the Mediterranean Sea is the Nile, which takes its sources in equatorial Africa. The basin of the Nile constitutes about two-thirds of the Mediterranean drainage basin[43] and encompasses areas as high as the Ruwenzori Mountains.[45] Among other important rivers in Africa, are the Moulouya and the Chelif, both on the north side of the Atlas Mountains. In Asia, are the Ceyhan and Seyhan, both on the south side of the Taurus Mountains.[46] In Europe, the largest basins are those of the Rhône, Ebro, Po, and Maritsa.[47] The basin of the Rhône is the largest and extends up as far north as the Jura Mountains, encompassing areas even on the north side of the Alps.[48] The basins of the Ebro, Po, and Maritsa, are respectively south of the Pyrenees, Alps, and Balkan Mountains, which are the major ranges bordering Southern Europe.

Total annual precipitation is significantly higher on the European part of the Mediterranean basin, especially near the Alps (the 'water tower of Europe') and other high mountain ranges. As a consequence, the river discharges of the Rhône and Po are similar to that of the Nile, despite the latter having a much larger basin.[46] These are the only three rivers with an average discharge of over 1,000 m3/s (35,000 cu ft/s).[43] Among large natural fresh bodies of water are Lake Victoria (Nile basin), Lake Geneva (Rhône), and the Italian Lakes (Po). While the Mediterranean watershed is bordered by other river basins in Europe, it is essentially bordered by endorheic basins or deserts elsewhere.

The following countries are in the Mediterranean drainage basin while not having a coastline on the Mediterranean Sea:

Coastal countries edit

For a more comprehensive list, see List of Mediterranean countries.
 
Map of the Mediterranean Sea from open Natural Earth data, 2020

The following countries have a coastline on the Mediterranean Sea:

Several other territories also border the Mediterranean Sea (from west to east):

 
Alexandria, the largest city on the Mediterranean
 
Barcelona, the second largest metropolitan area on the Mediterranean Sea (after Alexandria) and the headquarters of the Union for the Mediterranean
 
The Acropolis of Athens with the Mediterranean Sea in the background
 
The ancient port of Jaffa (now in Tel Aviv-Yafo), from which the biblical Jonah set sail before being swallowed by a whale[51]
 
Catania, Sicily, Italy, with Mount Etna in the background
 
İzmir, the third metropolis of Turkey (after Istanbul and Ankara)

Exclusive economic zone edit

Exclusive economic zones in Mediterranean Sea:[52][53]

Number Country Area (Km2)
1   Italy 541,915
2   Greece 493,708
3   Libya 355,604
4   Spain 260,000
5   Egypt 169,125
6   Algeria 128,843
7   Tunisia 102,047
8   Cyprus 98,088
9   France 88,389
10   Turkey 72,195
11   Croatia 59,032
12   Malta 55,542
13   Israel 25,139
14   Lebanon 19,265
15   Morocco 18,302
16   Albania 13,691
17   Syria 10,189
18   Montenegro 7,745
19   Palestine 2,591
20   Monaco 288
21   Slovenia 220
22   Bosnia and Herzegovina 50
23   United Kingdom 6.8
Total Mediterranean Sea 2,500,000

Coastline length edit

The Coastline length is about 46,000 km.[54][55][56]

Coastal cities edit

For a more comprehensive list, see List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea.

Major cities (municipalities), with populations larger than 200,000 people, bordering the Mediterranean Sea include:

Subdivisions edit

 
Africa (left, on horizon) and Europe (right), as seen from Gibraltar

The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) divides the Mediterranean into a number of smaller waterbodies, each with their own designation (from west to east):[40]

Other seas edit

 
Positano, Italy, Tyrrhenian Sea

Some other seas whose names have been in common use from the ancient times, or in the present:

Many of these smaller seas feature in local myth and folklore and derive their names from such associations.

Other features edit

 
View of the Saint George Bay, and snow-capped Mount Sannine from a tower in the Beirut Central District
 
The Port of Marseille seen from L'Estaque
 
Sarandë, Albania, stands on an open-sea gulf of the Ionian sea in the central Mediterranean.
 
Serra de Tramuntana, Mallorca

In addition to the seas, a number of gulfs and straits are recognised:

Largest islands edit

Main article: List of islands in the Mediterranean
 
The two biggest islands of the Mediterranean: Sicily and Sardinia (Italy)
 
XVI century watchtower on the coast of Sardinia

The Mediterranean Sea encompasses about 10,000 islands and islets, of which about 250 are permanently inhabited.[57] In the table below are listed the ten largest by size.

Country Island Area in km2 Population
Italy Sicily 25,460 5,048,995
Italy Sardinia 23,821 1,672,804
Cyprus Cyprus 9,251 1,088,503
France Corsica 8,680 299,209
Greece Crete 8,336 623,666
Greece Euboea 3,655 218,000
Spain Majorca 3,640 869,067
Greece Lesbos 1,632 90,643
Greece Rhodes 1,400 117,007
Greece Chios 842 51,936

Climate edit

Much of the Mediterranean coast enjoys a hot-summer Mediterranean climate. However, most of its southeastern coast has a hot desert climate, and much of Spain's eastern (Mediterranean) coast has a cold semi-arid climate, while most of Italy's northern (Adriatic) coast has a humid subtropical climate. Although they are rare, tropical cyclones occasionally form in the Mediterranean Sea, typically in September–November.

 
Map of climate zones in the areas surrounding the Mediterranean Sea, according to the Köppen climate classification

Sea temperature edit

Mean sea temperature (°C)
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Málaga[58] 16 15 16 16 18 20 22 23 22 20 18 17 18.6
Barcelona[59] 13 12 13 14 17 20 23 25 23 20 17 15 17.8
Marseille[60] 13 13 13 14 16 18 21 22 21 18 16 14 16.6
Naples[61] 15 14 14 15 18 22 25 27 25 22 19 16 19.3
Malta[62] 16 16 15 16 18 21 24 26 25 23 21 18 19.9
Venice[63] 11 10 11 13 18 22 25 26 23 20 16 14 17.4
Athens[64] 16 15 15 16 18 21 24 24 24 21 19 18 19.3
Heraklion[65] 16 15 15 16 19 22 24 25 24 22 20 18 19.7
Antalya[66] 17 17 16 17 21 24 27 29 27 25 22 19 21.8
Limassol[67] 18 17 17 18 20 24 26 28 27 25 22 19 21.7
Mersin[68] 18 17 17 18 21 25 28 29 28 25 22 19 22.3
Tel Aviv[69] 18 17 17 18 21 24 27 28 28 26 23 20 22.3
Alexandria[70] 18 17 17 18 20 23 25 26 26 25 22 20 21.4

Oceanography edit

 
Predominant surface currents for June

Being nearly landlocked affects conditions in the Mediterranean Sea: for instance, tides are very limited as a result of the narrow connection with the Atlantic Ocean. The Mediterranean is characterised and immediately recognised by its deep blue colour.

Evaporation greatly exceeds precipitation and river runoff in the Mediterranean, a fact that is central to the water circulation within the basin.[71] Evaporation is especially high in its eastern half, causing the water level to decrease and salinity to increase eastward.[72] The average salinity in the basin is 38 PSU at 5 m depth.[73] The temperature of the water in the deepest part of the Mediterranean Sea is 13.2 °C (55.8 °F).[73]

The net water influx from the Atlantic Ocean is ca. 70,000 m3/s or 2.2×1012 m3/a (7.8×1013 cu ft/a).[74] Without this Atlantic water, the sea level of the Mediterranean Sea would fall at a rate of about 1 m per year.[75]

In oceanography, it is sometimes called the Eurafrican Mediterranean Sea, the European Mediterranean Sea or the African Mediterranean Sea to distinguish it from mediterranean seas elsewhere.[76][who else?]

General circulation edit

Water circulation in the Mediterranean can be attributed to the surface waters entering from the Atlantic through the Strait of Gibraltar (and also low salinity water entering the Mediterranean from the Black Sea through the Bosphorus). The cool and relatively low-salinity Atlantic water circulates eastwards along the North African coasts. A part of the surface water does not pass the Strait of Sicily, but deviates towards Corsica before exiting the Mediterranean. The surface waters entering the eastern Mediterranean Basin circulate along the Libyan and Israeli coasts. Upon reaching the Levantine Sea, the surface waters having warmed and increased its salinity from its initial Atlantic state, is now denser and sinks to form the Levantine Intermediate Waters (LIW). Most of the water found anywhere between 50 and 600 m deep in the Mediterranean originates from the LIW.[77] LIW are formed along the coasts of Turkey and circulate westwards along the Greek and south Italian coasts. LIW are the only waters passing the Sicily Strait westwards. After the Strait of Sicily, the LIW waters circulate along the Italian, French and Spanish coasts before exiting the Mediterranean through the depths of the Strait of Gibraltar. Deep water in the Mediterranean originates from three main areas: the Adriatic Sea, from which most of the deep water in the eastern Mediterranean originates, the Aegean Sea, and the Gulf of Lion. Deep water formation in the Mediterranean is triggered by strong winter convection fueled by intense cold winds like the Bora. When new deep water is formed, the older waters mix with the overlaying intermediate waters and eventually exit the Mediterranean. The residence time of water in the Mediterranean is approximately 100 years, making the Mediterranean especially sensitive to climate change.[78]

Other events affecting water circulation edit

Being a semi-enclosed basin, the Mediterranean experiences transitory events that can affect the water circulation on short time scales. In the mid-1990s, the Aegean Sea became the main area for deep water formation in the eastern Mediterranean after particularly cold winter conditions. This transitory switch in the origin of deep waters in the eastern Mediterranean was termed Eastern Mediterranean Transient (EMT) and had major consequences on water circulation of the Mediterranean.[79][80][81]

Another example of a transient event affecting the Mediterranean circulation is the periodic inversion of the North Ionian Gyre, which is an anticyclonic ocean gyre observed in the northern part of the Ionian Sea, off the Greek coast. The transition from anticyclonic to cyclonic rotation of this gyre changes the origin of the waters fueling it; when the circulation is anticyclonic (most common), the waters of the gyre originate from the Adriatic Sea. When the circulation is cyclonic, the waters originate from the Levantine Sea. These waters have different physical and chemical characteristics, and the periodic inversion of the North Ionian Gyre (called Bimodal Oscillating System or BiOS) changes the Mediterranean circulation and biogeochemistry around the Adriatic and Levantine regions.[82]

Climate change edit

Because of the short residence time of waters, the Mediterranean Sea is considered a hot spot for climate change effects.[83] Deep water temperatures have increased by 0.12 °C (0.22 °F) between 1959 and 1989.[84] According to climate projections, the Mediterranean Sea could become warmer. The decrease in precipitation over the region could lead to more evaporation ultimately increasing the Mediterranean Sea salinity.[83][85] Because of the changes in temperature and salinity, the Mediterranean Sea may become more stratified by the end of the 21st century, with notable consequences on water circulation and biogeochemistry. The stratification and warming have already led to the eastern Mediterranean to become a net source of CO2 to the atmosphere [86][87] notably during summer. This strong summer degassing, combined with the prolonged and pronounced stratification results in the formation of aragonite crystals abiotically in the water column.[88] The cumulative warming at the surface of the Mediterranean has a significant impact on the ecological system. Extreme warming has led to biodiversity loss[89] and presents an existential threat to some habitats [90] while making conditions more hospitable to invasive tropical species.[91]

Biogeochemistry edit

In spite of its great biodiversity, concentrations of chlorophyll and nutrients in the Mediterranean Sea are very low, making it one of the most oligotrophic ocean regions in the world. The Mediterranean Sea is commonly referred to as an LNLC (Low-Nutrient, Low-Chlorophyll) area. The Mediterranean Sea fits the definition of a desert in which its nutrient contents are low, making it difficult for plants and animals to develop.

There are steep gradients in nutrient concentrations, chlorophyll concentrations and primary productivity in the Mediterranean. Nutrient concentrations in the western part of the basin are about double the concentrations in the eastern basin. The Alboran Sea, close to the Strait of Gibraltar, has a daily primary productivity of about 0.25 g C (grams of carbon) m−2 day−1 whereas the eastern basin has an average daily productivity of 0.16 g C m−2 day−1.[92] For this reason, the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea is termed "ultraoligotrophic". The productive areas of the Mediterranean Sea are few and small. High (i.e. more than 0.5 grams of Chlorophyll a per cubic meter) productivity occurs in coastal areas, close to the river mouths which are the primary suppliers of dissolved nutrients. The Gulf of Lion has a relatively high productivity because it is an area of high vertical mixing, bringing nutrients to the surface waters that can be used by phytoplankton to produce Chlorophyll a.[93]

Primary productivity in the Mediterranean is also marked by an intense seasonal variability. In winter, the strong winds and precipitation over the basin generate vertical mixing, bringing nutrients from the deep waters to the surface, where phytoplankton can convert it into biomass.[94] However, in winter, light may be the limiting factor for primary productivity. Between March and April, spring offers the ideal trade-off between light intensity and nutrient concentrations in surface for a spring bloom to occur. In summer, high atmospheric temperatures lead to the warming of the surface waters. The resulting density difference virtually isolates the surface waters from the rest of the water column and nutrient exchanges are limited. As a consequence, primary productivity is very low between June and October.[95][93]

Oceanographic expeditions uncovered a characteristic feature of the Mediterranean Sea biogeochemistry: most of the chlorophyll production does not occur on the surface, but in sub-surface waters between 80 and 200 meters deep.[96] Another key characteristic of the Mediterranean is its high nitrogen-to-phosphorus ratio (N:P). Redfield demonstrated that most of the world's oceans have an average N:P ratio around 16. However, the Mediterranean Sea has an average N:P between 24 and 29, which translates a widespread phosphorus limitation.[clarification needed][97][98][99][100]

Because of its low productivity, plankton assemblages in the Mediterranean Sea are dominated by small organisms such as picophytoplankton and bacteria.[101][102]

Geology edit

See also: Geology and paleoclimatology of the Mediterranean Basin
 
A submarine karst spring, called vrulja, near Omiš; observed through several ripplings of an otherwise calm sea surface.

The geologic history of the Mediterranean Sea is complex. Underlain by oceanic crust, the sea basin was once thought to be a tectonic remnant of the ancient Tethys Ocean; it is now known to be a structurally younger basin, called the Neotethys, which was first formed by the convergence of the African and Eurasian plates during the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic. Because it is a near-landlocked body of water in a normally dry climate, the Mediterranean is subject to intensive evaporation and the precipitation of evaporites. The Messinian salinity crisis started about six million years ago (mya) when the Mediterranean became landlocked, and then essentially dried up. There are salt deposits accumulated on the bottom of the basin of more than a million cubic kilometres—in some places more than three kilometres thick.[103][104]

Scientists estimate that the sea was last filled about 5.3 million years ago (mya) in less than two years by the Zanclean flood. Water poured in from the Atlantic Ocean through a newly breached gateway now called the Strait of Gibraltar at an estimated rate of about three orders of magnitude (one thousand times) larger than the current flow of the Amazon River.[105]

The Mediterranean Sea has an average depth of 1,500 m (4,900 ft) and the deepest recorded point is 5,267 m (17,280 ft) in the Calypso Deep in the Ionian Sea. The coastline extends for 46,000 km (29,000 mi). A shallow submarine ridge (the Strait of Sicily) between the island of Sicily and the coast of Tunisia divides the sea in two main subregions: the Western Mediterranean, with an area of about 850,000 km2 (330,000 mi2); and the Eastern Mediterranean, of about 1.65 million km2 (640,000 mi2). Coastal areas have submarine karst springs or vruljas, which discharge pressurised groundwater into the water from below the surface; the discharge water is usually fresh, and sometimes may be thermal.[106][107]

Tectonics and paleoenvironmental analysis edit

The Mediterranean basin and sea system were established by the ancient African-Arabian continent colliding with the Eurasian continent. As Africa-Arabia drifted northward, it closed over the ancient Tethys Ocean which had earlier separated the two supercontinents Laurasia and Gondwana. At about that time in the middle Jurassic period (roughly 170 million years ago [dubious – discuss]) a much smaller sea basin, dubbed the Neotethys, was formed shortly before the Tethys Ocean closed at its western (Arabian) end. The broad line of collisions pushed up a very long system of mountains from the Pyrenees in Spain to the Zagros Mountains in Iran in an episode of mountain-building tectonics known as the Alpine orogeny. The Neotethys grew larger during the episodes of collisions (and associated foldings and subductions) that occurred during the Oligocene and Miocene epochs (34 to 5.33 mya); see animation: Africa-Arabia colliding with Eurasia. Accordingly, the Mediterranean basin consists of several stretched tectonic plates in subduction which are the foundation of the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea. Various zones of subduction contain the highest oceanic ridges, east of the Ionian Sea and south of the Aegean. The Central Indian Ridge runs east of the Mediterranean Sea south-east across the in-between[clarification needed] of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula into the Indian Ocean.

Messinian salinity crisis edit

 
Messinian salinity crisis before the Zanclean flood
Animation: Messinian salinity crisis
Main article: Messinian salinity crisis

During Mesozoic and Cenozoic times, as the northwest corner of Africa converged on Iberia, it lifted the Betic-Rif mountain belts across southern Iberia and northwest Africa. There the development of the intramontane Betic and Rif basins created two roughly parallel marine gateways between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. Dubbed the Betic and Rifian corridors, they gradually closed during the middle and late Miocene: perhaps several times.[108] In the late Miocene the closure of the Betic Corridor triggered the so-called "Messinian salinity crisis" (MSC), characterized by the deposition of a thick evaporitic sequence – with salt deposits up to 2 km thick in the Levantine sea – and by a massive drop in water level in much of the Basin. This event was for long the subject of acute scientific controversy, now much appeased,[109] regarding its sequence, geographic range, processes leading to evaporite facies and salt deposits. The start of the MSC was recently estimated astronomically at 5.96 mya, and it persisted for some 630,000 years until about 5.3 mya;[110] see Animation: Messinian salinity crisis, at right.

After the initial drawdown[clarification needed] and re-flooding, there followed more episodes—the total number is debated—of sea drawdowns and re-floodings for the duration of the MSC. It ended when the Atlantic Ocean last re-flooded the basin—creating the Strait of Gibraltar and causing the Zanclean flood—at the end of the Miocene (5.33 mya). Some research has suggested that a desiccation-flooding-desiccation cycle may have repeated several times, which could explain several events of large amounts of salt deposition.[111][112] Recent studies, however, show that repeated desiccation and re-flooding is unlikely from a geodynamic point of view.[113][114]

Desiccation and exchanges of flora and fauna edit

See also: Pleistocene megafauna and Dwarf elephant

The present-day Atlantic gateway, the Strait of Gibraltar, originated in the early Pliocene via the Zanclean Flood. As mentioned, there were two earlier gateways: the Betic Corridor across southern Spain and the Rifian Corridor across northern Morocco. The Betic closed about 6 mya, causing the Messinian salinity crisis (MSC); the Rifian or possibly both gateways closed during the earlier Tortonian times, causing a "Tortonian salinity crisis" (from 11.6 to 7.2 mya), long before the MSC and lasting much longer. Both "crises" resulted in broad connections between the mainlands of Africa and Europe, which allowed migrations of flora and fauna—especially large mammals including primates—between the two continents. The Vallesian crisis indicates a typical extinction and replacement of mammal species in Europe during Tortonian times following climatic upheaval and overland migrations of new species:[115] see Animation: Messinian salinity crisis (and mammal migrations), at right.

The almost complete enclosure of the Mediterranean basin has enabled the oceanic gateways to dominate seawater circulation and the environmental evolution of the sea and basin. Circulation patterns are also affected by several other factors—including climate, bathymetry, and water chemistry and temperature—which are interactive and can induce precipitation of evaporites. Deposits of evaporites accumulated earlier in the nearby Carpathian foredeep during the Middle Miocene, and the adjacent Red Sea Basin (during the Late Miocene), and in the whole Mediterranean basin (during the MSC and the Messinian age). Many diatomites are found underneath the evaporite deposits, suggesting a connection between their[clarification needed] formations.

Today, evaporation of surface seawater (output) is more than the supply (input) of fresh water by precipitation and coastal drainage systems, causing the salinity of the Mediterranean to be much higher than that of the Atlantic—so much so that the saltier Mediterranean waters sink below the waters incoming from the Atlantic, causing a two-layer flow across the Strait of Gibraltar: that is, an outflow submarine current of warm saline Mediterranean water, counterbalanced by an inflow surface current of less saline cold oceanic water from the Atlantic. In the 1920s, Herman Sörgel proposed the building of a hydroelectric dam (the Atlantropa project) across the Straits, using the inflow current to provide a large amount of hydroelectric energy. The underlying energy grid was also intended to support a political union between Europe and, at least, the Maghreb part of Africa (compare Eurafrika for the later impact and Desertec for a later project with some parallels in the planned grid).[116]

Shift to a "Mediterranean climate" edit

The end of the Miocene also marked a change in the climate of the Mediterranean basin. Fossil evidence from that period reveals that the larger basin had a humid subtropical climate with rainfall in the summer supporting laurel forests. The shift to a "Mediterranean climate" occurred largely within the last three million years (the late Pliocene epoch) as summer rainfall decreased. The subtropical laurel forests retreated; and even as they persisted on the islands of Macaronesia off the Atlantic coast of Iberia and North Africa, the present Mediterranean vegetation evolved, dominated by coniferous trees and sclerophyllous trees and shrubs with small, hard, waxy leaves that prevent moisture loss in the dry summers. Much of these forests and shrublands have been altered beyond recognition by thousands of years of human habitation. There are now very few relatively intact natural areas in what was once a heavily wooded region.

Paleoclimate edit

Because of its latitude and its landlocked position, the Mediterranean is especially sensitive to astronomically induced climatic variations, which are well documented in its sedimentary record. Since the Mediterranean is subject to the deposition of eolian dust from the Sahara during dry periods, whereas riverine detrital input prevails during wet ones, the Mediterranean marine sapropel-bearing sequences provide high-resolution climatic information. These data have been employed in reconstructing astronomically calibrated time scales for the last 9 Ma of the Earth's history, helping to constrain the time of past geomagnetic reversals.[117] Furthermore, the exceptional accuracy of these paleoclimatic records has improved our knowledge of the Earth's orbital variations in the past.

Biodiversity edit

 
Soft coral Eunicella cavolini

Unlike the vast multidirectional ocean currents in open oceans within their respective oceanic zones; biodiversity in the Mediterranean Sea is stable due to the subtle but strong locked nature of currents which is favourable to life, even the smallest macroscopic type of volcanic life form. The stable marine ecosystem of the Mediterranean Sea and sea temperature provides a nourishing environment for life in the deep sea to flourish while assuring a balanced aquatic ecosystem excluded from any external deep oceanic factors. It is estimated that there are more than 17,000 marine species in the Mediterranean Sea with generally higher marine biodiversity in coastal areas, continental shelves, and decreases with depth.[118]

As a result of the drying of the sea during the Messinian salinity crisis,[119] the marine biota of the Mediterranean are derived primarily from the Atlantic Ocean. The North Atlantic is considerably colder and more nutrient-rich than the Mediterranean, and the marine life of the Mediterranean has had to adapt to its differing conditions in the five million years since the basin was reflooded.

The Alboran Sea is a transition zone between the two seas, containing a mix of Mediterranean and Atlantic species. The Alboran Sea has the largest population of bottlenose dolphins in the Western Mediterranean, is home to the last population of harbour porpoises in the Mediterranean and is the most important feeding grounds for loggerhead sea turtles in Europe. The Alboran Sea also hosts important commercial fisheries, including sardines and swordfish. The Mediterranean monk seals live in the Aegean Sea in Greece. In 2003, the World Wildlife Fund raised concerns about the widespread drift net fishing endangering populations of dolphins, turtles, and other marine animals such as the spiny squat lobster.

There was a resident population of orcas in the Mediterranean until the 1980s, when they went extinct, probably due to long-term PCB exposure. There are still annual sightings of orca vagrants.[120]

See also: Specially Protected Areas of Mediterranean Importance, List of fish of the Mediterranean Sea, and List of fish of the Black Sea

Environmental issues edit

For 4,000 years, human activity has transformed most parts of Mediterranean Europe, and the "humanisation of the landscape" overlapped with the appearance of the present Mediterranean climate.[121] The image of a simplistic, environmental determinist notion of a Mediterranean paradise on Earth in antiquity, which was destroyed by later civilisations, dates back to at least the 18th century and was for centuries fashionable in archaeological and historical circles. Based on a broad variety of methods, e.g. historical documents, analysis of trade relations, floodplain sediments, pollen, tree-ring and further archaeometric analyses and population studies, Alfred Thomas Grove's and Oliver Rackham's work on "The Nature of Mediterranean Europe" challenges this common wisdom of a Mediterranean Europe as a "Lost Eden", a formerly fertile and forested region, that had been progressively degraded and desertified by human mismanagement.[121] The belief stems more from the failure of the recent landscape to measure up to the imaginary past of the classics as idealised by artists, poets and scientists of the early modern Enlightenment.[121]

 
The thermonuclear bomb that fell into the sea recovered off Palomares, Almería, 1966

The historical evolution of climate, vegetation and landscape in southern Europe from prehistoric times to the present is much more complex and underwent various changes. For example, some of the deforestation had already taken place before the Roman age. While in the Roman age large enterprises such as the latifundia took effective care of forests and agriculture, the largest depopulation effects came with the end of the empire. Some[who?] assume that the major deforestation took place in modern times—the later usage patterns were also quite different e.g. in southern and northern Italy. Also, the climate has usually been unstable and there is evidence of various ancient and modern "Little Ice Ages",[122][page needed] and plant cover accommodated to various extremes and became resilient to various patterns of human activity.[121]

Human activity was therefore not the cause of climate change but followed it.[121] The wide ecological diversity typical of Mediterranean Europe is predominantly based on human behaviour, as it is and has been closely related to human usage patterns.[121] The diversity range[clarification needed] was enhanced by the widespread exchange and interaction of the longstanding and highly diverse local agriculture, intense transport and trade relations, and the interaction with settlements, pasture and other land use. The greatest human-induced changes, however, came after World War II, in line with the "1950s syndrome"[123] as rural populations throughout the region abandoned traditional subsistence economies. Grove and Rackham suggest that the locals left the traditional agricultural patterns and instead became scenery-setting agents[clarification needed] for tourism. This resulted in more uniform, large-scale formations[of what?].[121] Among further current important threats to Mediterranean landscapes are overdevelopment of coastal areas, abandonment of mountains and, as mentioned, the loss of variety via the reduction of traditional agricultural occupations.[121]

Natural hazards edit

 
Stromboli volcano in Italy

The region has a variety of geological hazards, which have closely interacted with human activity and land use patterns. Among others, in the eastern Mediterranean, the Thera eruption, dated to the 17th or 16th century BC, caused a large tsunami that some experts hypothesise devastated the Minoan civilisation on the nearby island of Crete, further leading some to believe that this may have been the catastrophe that inspired the Atlantis legend.[124] Mount Vesuvius is the only active volcano on the European mainland, while others, Mount Etna and Stromboli, are on neighbouring islands. The region around Vesuvius including the Phlegraean Fields Caldera west of Naples are quite active[125] and constitute the most densely populated volcanic region in the world where an eruptive event may occur within decades.[126]

Vesuvius itself is regarded as quite dangerous due to a tendency towards explosive (Plinian) eruptions.[127] It is best known for its eruption in AD 79 that led to the burying and destruction of the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum.

The large experience[clarification needed] of member states and regional authorities has led to exchange[of what?] on the international level with the cooperation of NGOs, states, regional and municipality authorities and private persons.[128] The Greek–Turkish earthquake diplomacy is a quite positive example of natural hazards leading to improved relations between traditional rivals in the region after earthquakes in İzmit and Athens in 1999. The European Union Solidarity Fund (EUSF) was set up to respond to major natural disasters and express European solidarity to disaster-stricken regions within all of Europe.[129] The largest amount of funding requests in the EU relates to forest fires, followed by floods and earthquakes. Forest fires, whether human-made or natural, are a frequent and dangerous hazard in the Mediterranean region.[128] Tsunamis are also an often-underestimated hazard in the region. For example, the 1908 Messina earthquake and tsunami took more than 123,000 lives in Sicily and Calabria and were among the deadliest natural disasters in modern Europe.

Invasive species edit

 
The reticulate whipray is one of the species that colonised the Eastern Mediterranean through the Suez Canal as part of the ongoing Lessepsian migration.

The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 created the first salt-water passage between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. The Red Sea is higher than the Eastern Mediterranean, so the canal functions as a tidal strait that pours Red Sea water into the Mediterranean. The Bitter Lakes, which are hyper-saline natural lakes that form part of the canal, blocked the migration of Red Sea species into the Mediterranean for many decades, but as the salinity of the lakes gradually equalised with that of the Red Sea, the barrier to migration was removed, and plants and animals from the Red Sea have begun to colonise the Eastern Mediterranean. The Red Sea is generally saltier and more nutrient-poor than the Atlantic, so the Red Sea species have advantages over Atlantic species in the salty and nutrient-poor Eastern Mediterranean. Accordingly, Red Sea species invade the Mediterranean biota, and not vice versa; this phenomenon is known as the Lessepsian migration (after Ferdinand de Lesseps, the French engineer) or Erythrean ("red") invasion. The construction of the Aswan High Dam across the Nile River in the 1960s reduced the inflow of freshwater and nutrient-rich silt from the Nile into the Eastern Mediterranean, making conditions there even more like the Red Sea and worsening the impact of the invasive species.

Invasive species have become a major component of the Mediterranean ecosystem and have serious impacts on the Mediterranean ecology, endangering a number of local and endemic Mediterranean species. A first look at some groups of marine species shows that over 70% of exotic decapods [130] and some 2/3 of exotic fishes [131] found in the Mediterranean are of Indo-Pacific origin, introduced from the Red Sea via the Suez Canal. This makes the Canal the first pathway of arrival of alien species into the Mediterranean. The impacts of some Lessepsian species have proven to be considerable, mainly in the Levantine basin of the Mediterranean, where they are replacing native species and becoming a familiar sight.

According to definitions by the Mediterranean Science Commission and the International Union for Conservation of Nature, and to Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and Ramsar Convention terminologies, they are alien species, as they are non-native (non-indigenous) to the Mediterranean Sea, and are found outside their normal, non-adjacent area of distribution. When these species succeed in establishing populations in the Mediterranean Sea, compete with and begin to replace native species they are "Alien Invasive Species", as they are an agent of change and a threat to the native biodiversity. In the context of CBD, "introduction" refers to the movement by human agency, indirect or direct, of an alien species outside of its natural range (past or present). The Suez Canal, being an artificial (human-made) canal, is a human agency. Lessepsian migrants are therefore "introduced" species (indirect, and unintentional). Whatever wording is chosen, they represent a threat to the native Mediterranean biodiversity, because they are non-indigenous to this sea. In recent years, the Egyptian government's announcement of its intentions to deepen and widen the Canal [132] raised concerns from marine biologists, fearing that such an act will only worsen the invasion of Red Sea species into the Mediterranean, and lead to even more species passing through the Canal.[133]

Arrival of new tropical Atlantic species edit

In recent decades, the arrival of exotic species from the tropical Atlantic has become noticeable. In many cases this reflects an expansion – favoured by a warming trend of sub-tropical Atlantic waters, and also by a fast-growing maritime traffic – of the natural range of species that now enter the Mediterranean through the Strait of Gibraltar. While not as intense as Lessepsian migration, the process is of importance and is therefore receiving increased levels of scientific coverage.[134]

Sea-level rise edit

By 2100 the overall level of the Mediterranean could rise between 3 and 61 cm (1.2 and 24.0 in) as a result of the effects of climate change.[135] This could have adverse effects on populations across the Mediterranean:

  • Rising sea levels will submerge parts of Malta. Rising sea levels will also mean rising salt water levels in Malta's groundwater supply and reduce the availability of drinking water.[136]
  • A 30 cm (12 in) rise in sea level would flood 200 square kilometres (77 sq mi) of the Nile Delta, displacing over 500,000 Egyptians.[137]
  • Cyprus wetlands are also in danger of being destroyed by the rising temperatures and sea levels.[138]

Coastal ecosystems also appear to be threatened by sea level rise, especially enclosed seas such as the Baltic, the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. These seas have only small and primarily east–west movement corridors, which may restrict northward displacement of organisms in these areas.[139] Sea level rise for the next century (2100) could be between 30 cm (12 in) and 100 cm (39 in) and temperature shifts of a mere 0.05–0.1 °C in the deep sea are sufficient to induce significant changes in species richness and functional diversity.[140]

Pollution edit

Pollution in this region has been extremely high in recent years.[when?] The United Nations Environment Programme has estimated that 650,000,000 t (720,000,000 short tons) of sewage, 129,000 t (142,000 short tons) of mineral oil, 60,000 t (66,000 short tons) of mercury, 3,800 t (4,200 short tons) of lead and 36,000 t (40,000 short tons) of phosphates are dumped into the Mediterranean each year.[141] The Barcelona Convention aims to 'reduce pollution in the Mediterranean Sea and protect and improve the marine environment in the area, thereby contributing to its sustainable development.'[142] Many marine species have been almost wiped out because of the sea's pollution. One of them is the Mediterranean monk seal which is considered to be among the world's most endangered marine mammals.[143] The Mediterranean is also plagued by marine debris. A 1994 study of the seabed using trawl nets around the coasts of Spain, France and Italy reported a particularly high mean concentration of debris; an average of 1,935 items per km2.[144]

Shipping edit

 
A cargo ship cruises towards the Strait of Messina

Some of the world's busiest shipping routes are in the Mediterranean Sea. In particular, the Maritime Silk Road from Asia and Africa leads through the Suez Canal directly into the Mediterranean Sea to its deep-water ports in Valencia, Piraeus, Trieste, Genoa, Marseilles and Barcelona. It is estimated that approximately 220,000 merchant vessels of more than 100 tonnes cross the Mediterranean Sea each year—about one-third of the world's total merchant shipping. These ships often carry hazardous cargo, which if lost would result in severe damage to the marine environment.

The discharge of chemical tank washings and oily wastes also represent a significant source of marine pollution. The Mediterranean Sea constitutes 0.7% of the global water surface and yet receives 17% of global marine oil pollution. It is estimated that every year between 100,000 t (98,000 long tons) and 150,000 t (150,000 long tons) of crude oil are deliberately released into the sea from shipping activities.

 
Port of Trieste

Approximately 370,000,000 t (360,000,000 long tons) of oil are transported annually in the Mediterranean Sea (more than 20% of the world total), with around 250–300 oil tankers crossing the sea every day. An important destination is the Port of Trieste, the starting point of the Transalpine Pipeline, which covers 40% of Germany's oil demand (100% of the federal states of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg), 90% of Austria and 50% of the Czech Republic.[145] Accidental oil spills happen frequently with an average of 10 spills per year. A major oil spill could occur at any time in any part of the Mediterranean.[140]

class=notpageimage|
Largest ports of the Mediterranean area per total vessel traffic as of 2016.[146]

Tourism edit

 
Kemer Beach in Antalya on the Turkish Riviera (Turquoise Coast). In 2019, Turkey ranked sixth in the world in terms of the number of international tourist arrivals, with 51.2 million foreign tourists visiting the country.[147]

The coast of the Mediterranean has been used for tourism since ancient times, as the Roman villa buildings on the Amalfi Coast or in Barcola show. From the end of the 19th century, in particular, the beaches became places of longing for many Europeans and travellers. From then on, and especially after World War II, mass tourism to the Mediterranean began with all its advantages and disadvantages. While initially, the journey was by train and later by bus or car, today the plane is increasingly used.[148]

Tourism is today one of the most important sources of income for many Mediterranean countries, despite the human-made geopolitical conflicts[clarification needed] in the region. The countries have tried to extinguish rising human-made chaotic zones[clarification needed] that might affect the region's economies and societies in neighbouring coastal countries, and shipping routes. Naval and rescue components in the Mediterranean Sea are considered to be among the best[citation needed] due to the rapid cooperation between various naval fleets. Unlike the vast open oceans, the sea's closed position facilitates effective naval and rescue missions[citation needed], considered the safest[citation needed] and regardless of[clarification needed] any human-made or natural disaster.[149]

Tourism is a source of income for small coastal communities, including islands, independent of urban centres. However, tourism has also played a major role in the degradation of the coastal and marine environment. Rapid development has been encouraged by Mediterranean governments to support the large numbers of tourists visiting the region, but this has caused serious disturbance to marine habitats by erosion and pollution in many places along the Mediterranean coasts.

Tourism often concentrates in areas of high natural wealth[clarification needed], causing a serious threat to the habitats of endangered species such as sea turtles and monk seals. Reductions in natural wealth may reduce the incentive for tourists to visit.[140]

See also: Environmental impact of tourism

Overfishing edit

Main article: Overfishing

Fish stock levels in the Mediterranean Sea are alarmingly low. The European Environment Agency says that more than 65% of all fish stocks in the region are outside safe biological limits and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation, that some of the most important fisheries—such as albacore and bluefin tuna, hake, marlin, swordfish, red mullet and sea bream—are threatened.[date missing]

There are clear indications that catch size and quality have declined, often dramatically, and in many areas, larger and longer-lived species have disappeared entirely from commercial catches.

Large open-water fish like tuna have been a shared fisheries resource for thousands of years but the stocks are now dangerously low. In 1999, Greenpeace published a report revealing that the amount of bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean had decreased by over 80% in the previous 20 years and government scientists warn that without immediate action the stock will collapse.

Marine heatwaves edit

Main article: Marine heatwave

A study showed that climate change-related exceptional marine heatwaves in the Mediterranean Sea during 2015–2019 resulted in widespread mass sealife die-offs in five consecutive years.[150][151]

Gallery edit

See also edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ Not including the area of the Mediterranean Sea
  2. ^ Through the Ebro
  3. ^ Through the Struma, Maritsa and Nestos, see Geography of Bulgaria#Hydrography
  4. ^ Through the Drin
  5. ^ Through the Drin and Vardar
  6. ^ Through the Marecchia[49]
  7. ^ Through the Struma
  8. ^ Through the Rhône, Po and Adige, see Hydrology of Switzerland

References edit

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  7. ^ . Liddell & Scott. Archived from the original on 2 December 2009.
  8. ^ Oxford English Dictionary, 3rd ed, 2001, s.v.
  9. ^ Dehkhoda, Ali Akbar. ""دریای روم" entry". Parsi Wiki. from the original on 22 May 2020. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
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  11. ^ Dehkhoda, Ali Akabar. ""دریای شام" entry". Parsi Wiki. from the original on 22 May 2020. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
  12. ^ a b c "Baḥr al-Rūm" in Encyclopedia of Islam, 2nd ed
  13. ^ Diran Kélékian, Dictionnaire Turc-Français, Constantinople, 1911
  14. ^ Özhan Öztürk claims that in Old Turkish ak also means "west" and that Akdeniz hence means "West Sea" and that Karadeniz (Black Sea) means "North Sea". Özhan Öztürk. . Ankara. 2011. pp. 5–9. Archived from the original on 15 September 2012.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  15. ^ "Archived copy". from the original on 23 August 2023. Retrieved 22 August 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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External links edit

  • Dickson, Henry Newton (1911). "Mediterranean Sea" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 18 (11th ed.). pp. 67–69.
  • Mediterranean Sea Microorganisms: 180+ images of Foraminifera
  • Eastern Mediterranean Sea Long Term Ecological Research Station

January 01, 1970
mediterranean, mediterranean, redirects, here, other, uses, mediterranean, disambiguation, connected, atlantic, ocean, surrounded, mediterranean, basin, almost, completely, enclosed, land, north, southern, europe, anatolia, south, north, africa, east, levant, . Mediterranean redirects here For other uses see Mediterranean disambiguation The Mediterranean Sea ˌ m ɛ d ɪ t e ˈ r eɪ n i en MED ih te RAY nee en is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land on the north by Southern Europe and Anatolia on the south by North Africa and on the east by the Levant in West Asia The Mediterranean has played a central role in the history of Western civilization Geological evidence indicates that around 5 9 million years ago the Mediterranean was cut off from the Atlantic and was partly or completely desiccated over a period of some 600 000 years during the Messinian salinity crisis before being refilled by the Zanclean flood about 5 3 million years ago Mediterranean SeaMap of the Mediterranean SeaLocationSouthern Europe North Africa West AsiaCoordinates35 N 18 E 35 N 18 E 35 18TypeSeaPrimary inflowsAtlantic Ocean Sea of Marmara Nile Ebro Rhone Chelif PoBasin countriesCoastal countries Albania Algeria Bosnia and Herzegovina Croatia Cyprus Egypt France Greece Israel Italy Lebanon Libya Malta Monaco Montenegro Morocco Northern Cyprus recognized only by Turkey see Cyprus dispute Palestine Slovenia Spain Syria Tunisia Turkey United Kingdom Akrotiri and Dhekelia and Gibraltar For other countries see HydrographySurface area2 500 000 km2 970 000 sq mi Average depth1 500 m 4 900 ft Max depth5 109 m 16 762 ft 1 m 3 ft Water volume3 750 000 km3 900 000 cu mi Residence time80 100 years 1 Max temperature28 C 82 F Min temperature12 C 54 F Islands3300 SettlementsAlexandria Barcelona Algiers Izmir Rome Tel Aviv Athens Valencia Antalya Beirut Mersin Marseille Tripoli Tangier Mugla full list The Mediterranean Sea covers an area of about 2 500 000 km2 970 000 sq mi 2 representing 0 7 of the global ocean surface but its connection to the Atlantic via the Strait of Gibraltar the narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates the Iberian Peninsula in Europe from Morocco in Africa is only 14 km 9 mi wide The Mediterranean Sea encompasses a vast number of islands some of them of volcanic origin The two largest islands in both area and population are Sicily and Sardinia The Mediterranean Sea has an average depth of 1 500 m 4 900 ft and the deepest recorded point is 5 109 m 16 762 ft 1 m 3 ft in the Calypso Deep in the Ionian Sea It lies between latitudes 30 and 46 N and longitudes 6 W and 36 E Its west east length from the Strait of Gibraltar to the Gulf of Alexandretta on the southeastern coast of Turkey is about 4 000 kilometres 2 500 mi The north south length varies greatly between different shorelines and whether only straight routes are considered Also including longitudinal changes the shortest shipping route between the multinational Gulf of Trieste and the Libyan coastline of the Gulf of Sidra is about 1 900 kilometres 1 200 mi The water temperatures are mild in winter and warm in summer and give name to the Mediterranean climate type due to the majority of precipitation falling in the cooler months Its southern and eastern coastlines are lined with hot deserts not far inland but the immediate coastline on all sides of the Mediterranean tends to have strong maritime moderation The sea was an important route for merchants and travellers of ancient times facilitating trade and cultural exchange between the peoples of the region The history of the Mediterranean region is crucial to understanding the origins and development of many modern societies The Roman Empire maintained nautical hegemony over the sea for centuries and is the only state to have ever controlled all of its coast The countries surrounding the Mediterranean and its marginal seas in clockwise order are Spain France Monaco Italy Slovenia Croatia Bosnia and Herzegovina Montenegro Albania Greece Turkey Syria Lebanon Israel Palestine Egypt Libya Tunisia Algeria and Morocco Malta and Cyprus are island countries in the sea In addition Gibraltar an overseas territory of the United Kingdom is located on the coast of the Mediterranean The drainage basin encompasses a large number of other countries the Nile being the longest river ending in the Mediterranean Sea 3 Contents 1 Names and etymology 2 History 2 1 Ancient civilizations 2 2 Middle Ages and empires 2 3 21st century and migrations 3 Geography 3 1 Marginal seas 3 2 Extent 3 3 Hydrography 3 4 Coastal countries 3 5 Exclusive economic zone 3 6 Coastline length 3 7 Coastal cities 3 8 Subdivisions 3 8 1 Other seas 3 8 2 Other features 3 9 Largest islands 3 10 Climate 3 10 1 Sea temperature 4 Oceanography 4 1 General circulation 4 2 Other events affecting water circulation 4 3 Climate change 5 Biogeochemistry 6 Geology 6 1 Tectonics and paleoenvironmental analysis 6 1 1 Messinian salinity crisis 6 1 2 Desiccation and exchanges of flora and fauna 6 1 3 Shift to a Mediterranean climate 7 Paleoclimate 8 Biodiversity 9 Environmental issues 9 1 Natural hazards 9 2 Invasive species 9 2 1 Arrival of new tropical Atlantic species 9 3 Sea level rise 9 4 Pollution 9 5 Shipping 9 6 Tourism 9 7 Overfishing 9 8 Marine heatwaves 10 Gallery 11 See also 12 Notes 13 References 14 External linksNames and etymology edit nbsp Wadj Ur or Wadj Wer ancient Egyptian name of the Mediterranean Sea nbsp With its highly indented coastline and large number of islands Greece has the longest Mediterranean coastline The Ancient Egyptians called the Mediterranean Wadj wr Wadj Wer Wadj Ur This term literally great green was the name given by the Ancient Egyptians to the semi solid semi aquatic region characterized by papyrus forests to the north of the cultivated Nile delta and by extension the sea beyond 4 The Ancient Greeks called the Mediterranean simply ἡ 8alassa he thalassa the Sea or sometimes ἡ megalh 8alassa he megale thalassa the Great Sea ἡ ἡmetera 8alassa he hemetera thalassa Our Sea or ἡ 8alassa ἡ ka8 ἡmᾶs he thalassa he kath hemas the sea around us The Romans called it Mare Magnum Great Sea or Mare Internum Internal Sea and starting with the Roman Empire Mare Nostrum Our Sea The term Mare Mediterraneum appears later Solinus apparently used this in the 3rd century but the earliest extant witness to it is in the 6th century in Isidore of Seville 5 6 It means in the middle of land inland in Latin a compound of medius middle terra land earth and aneus having the nature of The modern Greek name Mesogeios 8alassa mesogeios inland is a calque of the Latin name from mesos mesos in the middle and ghinos gḗinos of the earth from gῆ ge land earth The original meaning may have been the sea in the middle of the earth rather than the sea enclosed by land 7 8 Ancient Iranians called it the Roman Sea and in Classical Persian texts it was called Daryay e Rōm دریای روم which may be from Middle Persian form Zreh i Hrōm 𐭦𐭫𐭩𐭤 𐭩 𐭤𐭫𐭥𐭬 9 The Carthaginians called it the Syrian Sea In ancient Syrian texts Phoenician epics and in the Hebrew Bible it was primarily known as the Great Sea הים הגדול HaYam HaGadol Numbers Book of Joshua Ezekiel or simply as The Sea 1 Kings However it has also been called the Hinder Sea because of its location on the west coast of Greater Syria or the Holy Land and therefore behind a person facing the east which is sometimes translated as Western Sea Another name was the Sea of the Philistines Book of Exodus from the people inhabiting a large portion of its shores near the Israelites In Modern Hebrew it is called הים התיכון HaYam HaTikhon the Middle Sea 10 In Classic Persian texts was called Daryay e Sam دریای شام The Western Sea or Syrian Sea 11 In Modern Standard Arabic it is known as al Baḥr al Abyaḍ al Mutawassiṭ البحر الأبيض المتوسط the White Middle Sea In Islamic and older Arabic literature it was Baḥr al Rum i بحر الروم or بحر الرومي the Sea of the Romans or the Roman Sea At first that name referred only to the eastern Mediterranean but the term was later extended to the whole Mediterranean Other Arabic names were Baḥr al sam i بحر الشام the Sea of Syria and Baḥr al Maghrib بحرالمغرب the Sea of the West 12 6 In Turkish it is the Akdeniz the White Sea in Ottoman ﺁق دڭيز which sometimes means only the Aegean Sea 13 The origin of the name is not clear as it is not known in earlier Greek Byzantine or Islamic sources It may be to contrast with the Black Sea 12 10 14 In Persian the name was translated as Baḥr i Safid which was also used in later Ottoman Turkish 12 Similarly in 19th century Greek the name was Asprh 8alassa aspri thalassa white sea 15 16 According to Johann Knobloch in classical antiquity cultures in the Levant used colours to refer to the cardinal points black referred to the north explaining the name Black Sea yellow or blue to east red to south e g the Red Sea and white to west That would explain the Bulgarian Byalo More the Turkish Akdeniz and the Arab nomenclature described above lit White Sea 17 History editMain article History of the Mediterranean region Ancient civilizations edit nbsp Greek red and Phoenician yellow colonies in antiquity c the 6th century BC nbsp The Roman Empire at its farthest extent in AD 117 Major ancient civilizations were located around the Mediterranean The sea provided routes for trade colonization and war as well as food from fishing and the gathering of other seafood for numerous communities throughout the ages 18 The earliest advanced civilizations in the Mediterranean were the Egyptians and the Minoans who traded extensively with each other Other notable civilizations that appeared somewhat later are the Hittites and other Anatolian peoples the Phoenicians and Mycenean Greece Around 1200 BC the eastern Mediterranean was greatly affected by the Bronze Age Collapse which resulted in the destruction of many cities and trade routes The most notable Mediterranean civilizations in classical antiquity were the Greek city states and the Phoenicians both of which extensively colonized the coastlines of the Mediterranean Darius I of Persia who conquered Ancient Egypt built a canal linking the Red Sea to the Nile and thus the Mediterranean Darius s canal was wide enough for two triremes to pass each other with oars extended and required four days to traverse 19 Following the Punic Wars in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC the Roman Republic defeated the Carthaginians to become the preeminent power in the Mediterranean When Augustus founded the Roman Empire the Romans referred to the Mediterranean as Mare Nostrum Our Sea For the next 400 years the Roman Empire completely controlled the Mediterranean Sea and virtually all its coastal regions from Gibraltar to the Levant being the only state in history to ever do so being given the nickname Roman Lake Middle Ages and empires edit The Western Roman Empire collapsed around 476 AD The east was again dominant as Roman power lived on in the Byzantine Empire formed in the 4th century from the eastern half of the Roman Empire Though the Eastern Roman Empire would continue to hold almost all of the Mediterranean another power arose in the 7th century and with it the religion of Islam which soon swept across from the east at its greatest extent the Arabs under the Umayyads controlled most of the Mediterranean region and left a lasting footprint on its eastern and southern shores The Arab invasions disrupted the trade relations between Western and Eastern Europe while disrupting trade routes with Eastern Asian Empires This however had the indirect effect of promoting trade across the Caspian Sea The export of grains from Egypt was re routed towards the Eastern world Products from East Asian empires like silk and spices were carried from Egypt to ports like Venice and Constantinople by sailors and Jewish merchants The Viking raids further disrupted the trade in western Europe and brought it to a halt However the Norsemen developed the trade from Norway to the White Sea while also trading in luxury goods from Spain and the Mediterranean The Byzantines in the mid 8th century retook control of the area around the north eastern part of the Mediterranean Venetian ships from the 9th century armed themselves to counter the harassment by Arabs while concentrating trade of Asian goods in Venice 20 nbsp The Battle of Lepanto 1571 ended in victory for the European Holy League against the Ottoman Turks The Fatimids maintained trade relations with the Italian city states like Amalfi and Genoa before the Crusades according to the Cairo Geniza documents A document dated 996 mentions Amalfian merchants living in Cairo Another letter states that the Genoese had traded with Alexandria The caliph al Mustansir had allowed Amalfian merchants to reside in Jerusalem about 1060 in place of the Latin hospice 21 The Crusades led to the flourishing of trade between Europe and the outremer region 22 Genoa Venice and Pisa created colonies in regions controlled by the Crusaders and came to control the trade with the Orient These colonies also allowed them to trade with the Eastern world Though the fall of the Crusader states and attempts at banning of trade relations with Muslim states by the Popes temporarily disrupted the trade with the Orient it however continued 23 Europe started to revive however as more organized and centralized states began to form in the later Middle Ages after the Renaissance of the 12th century nbsp The bombardment of Algiers by the Anglo Dutch fleet in support of an ultimatum to release European slaves August 1816 Ottoman power based in Anatolia continued to grow and in 1453 extinguished the Byzantine Empire with the Conquest of Constantinople Ottomans gained control of much of the eastern part sea in the 16th century and also maintained naval bases in southern France 1543 1544 Algeria and Tunisia Barbarossa the Ottoman captain is a symbol of this domination with the victory of the Battle of Preveza 1538 The Battle of Djerba 1560 marked the apex of Ottoman naval domination in the eastern Mediterranean As the naval prowess of the European powers increased they confronted Ottoman expansion in the region when the Battle of Lepanto 1571 checked the power of the Ottoman Navy This was the last naval battle to be fought primarily between galleys The Barbary pirates of Northwest Africa preyed on Christian shipping and coastlines in the Western Mediterranean Sea 24 According to Robert Davis from the 16th to 19th centuries pirates captured 1 million to 1 25 million Europeans as slaves 25 The development of oceanic shipping began to affect the entire Mediterranean Once most of the trade between Western Europe and the East was passing through the region but after the 1490s the development of a sea route to the Indian Ocean allowed the importation of Asian spices and other goods through the Atlantic ports of western Europe 26 27 28 The sea remained strategically important British mastery of Gibraltar ensured their influence in Africa and Southwest Asia Especially after the naval battles of Abukir 1799 Battle of the Nile and Trafalgar 1805 the British had for a long time strengthened their dominance in the Mediterranean 29 Wars included Naval warfare in the Mediterranean during World War I and Mediterranean theatre of World War II With the opening of the lockless Suez Canal in 1869 the flow of trade between Europe and Asia changed fundamentally The fastest route now led through the Mediterranean towards East Africa and Asia This led to a preference for the Mediterranean countries and their ports like Trieste with direct connections to Central and Eastern Europe experienced a rapid economic rise In the 20th century the 1st and 2nd World Wars as well as the Suez Crisis and the Cold War led to a shift of trade routes to the European northern ports which changed again towards the southern ports through European integration the activation of the Silk Road and free world trade 30 21st century and migrations edit Further information European migrant crisis List of migrant vessel incidents on the Mediterranean Sea and Timeline of the European migrant crisis nbsp Satellite image of the Mediterranean Sea at night In 2013 the Maltese president described the Mediterranean Sea as a cemetery due to the large number of migrants who drowned there after their boats capsized 31 European Parliament president Martin Schulz said in 2014 that Europe s migration policy turned the Mediterranean into a graveyard referring to the number of drowned refugees in the region as a direct result of the policies 32 An Azerbaijani official described the sea as a burial ground where people die 33 Following the 2013 Lampedusa migrant shipwreck the Italian government decided to strengthen the national system for the patrolling of the Mediterranean Sea by authorising Operation Mare Nostrum a military and humanitarian mission in order to rescue the migrants and arrest the traffickers of immigrants In 2015 more than one million migrants crossed the Mediterranean Sea into Europe 34 Italy was particularly affected by the European migrant crisis Since 2013 over 700 000 migrants have landed in Italy 35 mainly sub Saharan Africans 36 Geography edit nbsp A satellite image showing the Mediterranean Sea The Strait of Gibraltar appears in the bottom left north west quarter of the image to its left is the Iberian Peninsula in Europe and to its right the Maghreb in Africa nbsp The Dardanelles strait in Turkey The north upper side forms part of Europe the Gelibolu Peninsula in the Thrace region on the south lower side is Anatolia in Asia The Mediterranean Sea connects to the Atlantic Ocean by the Strait of Gibraltar known in Homer s writings as the Pillars of Hercules in the west to the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea by the Straits of the Dardanelles and the Bosporus respectively in the east The 163 km 101 mi long artificial Suez Canal in the southeast connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea without ship lock because the water level is essentially the same 10 37 The westernmost point of the Mediterranean is located at the transition from the Alboran Sea to the Strait of Gibraltar the easternmost point is on the coast of the Gulf of Iskenderun in southeastern Turkey The northernmost point of the Mediterranean is on the coast of the Gulf of Trieste near Monfalcone in northern Italy while the southernmost point is on the coast of the Gulf of Sidra near the Libyan town of El Agheila Large islands in the Mediterranean include Cyprus Crete Euboea Rhodes Lesbos Chios Kefalonia Corfu Limnos Samos Naxos and Andros in the Eastern Mediterranean Sicily Cres Krk Brac Hvar Pag Korcula and Malta in the central Mediterranean Sardinia Corsica and the Balearic Islands Ibiza Majorca and Menorca in the Western Mediterranean The Alpine arc which also has a great meteorological impact on the Mediterranean area touches the Mediterranean in the west in the area around Nice The typical Mediterranean climate has hot dry summers and mild rainy winters Crops of the region include olives grapes oranges tangerines carobs and cork Marginal seas edit nbsp The Elaphiti Islands off the coast of Croatia the Adriatic Sea contains over 1200 islands and islets nbsp Es Malvins Balearic Sea nbsp The Ionian Sea view from the island Lefkada Greece The Mediterranean Sea includes 15 marginal seas 38 failed verification Number Sea Area km2 Marginal countries and territories 1 Libyan Sea 350 000 Libya Turkey Greece Malta Italy 2 Levantine Sea 320 000 Turkey Syria Lebanon Israel Palestine Egypt Greece Cyprus Akrotiri amp Dhekelia 3 Tyrrhenian Sea 275 000 Italy France 4 Aegean Sea 214 000 Greece Turkey 5 Icarian Sea Part of Aegean Greece 6 Myrtoan Sea Part of Aegean Greece 7 Thracian Sea Part of Aegean Greece Turkey 8 Ionian Sea 169 000 Greece Albania Italy 9 Balearic Sea 150 000 Spain 10 Adriatic Sea 138 000 Albania Bosnia and Herzegovina Croatia Italy Montenegro Slovenia 11 Sea of Sardinia 120 000 Italy Spain 12 Sea of Crete 95 000 Part of Aegean Greece 39 13 Ligurian Sea 80 000 Italy France 14 Alboran Sea 53 000 Spain Morocco Algeria Gibraltar 15 Sea of Marmara 11 500 Turkey Other 500 000 Consists of gulfs straits channels and other parts that do not have the name of a specific sea Total Mediterranean Sea 2 500 000 List of seas Category Marginal seas of the Mediterranean Category Gulfs of the Mediterranean Category Straits of the Mediterranean Sea Category Channels of the Mediterranean Sea Note 1 The International Hydrographic Organization defines the area as generic Mediterranean Sea in the Western Basin It does not recognize the label Sea of Sardinia 40 Note 2 Thracian Sea and Myrtoan Sea are seas that are part of the Aegean Sea Note 3 The Black Sea is not considered part of it Extent edit See also List of drainage basins by area nbsp Borders of the Mediterranean Sea The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Mediterranean Sea as follows 40 Stretching from the Strait of Gibraltar in the west to the entrances to the Dardanelles and the Suez Canal in the east the Mediterranean Sea is bounded by the coasts of Europe Africa and Asia and is divided into two deep basins Western Basin On the west A line joining the extremities of Cape Trafalgar Spain and Cape Spartel Africa On the northeast The west coast of Italy In the Strait of Messina a line joining the north extreme of Cape Paci 15 42 E with Cape Peloro the east extreme of the Island of Sicily The north coast of Sicily On the east A line joining Cape Lilibeo the western point of Sicily 37 47 N 12 22 E 37 783 N 12 367 E 37 783 12 367 through the Adventure Bank to Cape Bon Tunisia Eastern Basin On the west The northeastern and eastern limits of the Western Basin On the northeast A line joining Kum Kale 26 11 E and Cape Helles the western entrance to the Dardanelles On the southeast The entrance to the Suez Canal On the east The coasts of Lebanon Syria Israel and Palestine through the Gaza Strip Hydrography edit nbsp Approximate extent of the Mediterranean drainage basin dark green Nile basin only partially shown The drainage basin of the Mediterranean Sea is particularly heterogeneous and extends much further than the Mediterranean region 41 Its size has been estimated between 4 000 000 km2 1 500 000 sq mi and 5 500 000 km2 2 100 000 sq mi note 1 depending on whether non active parts deserts are included or not 42 43 44 The longest river ending in the Mediterranean Sea is the Nile which takes its sources in equatorial Africa The basin of the Nile constitutes about two thirds of the Mediterranean drainage basin 43 and encompasses areas as high as the Ruwenzori Mountains 45 Among other important rivers in Africa are the Moulouya and the Chelif both on the north side of the Atlas Mountains In Asia are the Ceyhan and Seyhan both on the south side of the Taurus Mountains 46 In Europe the largest basins are those of the Rhone Ebro Po and Maritsa 47 The basin of the Rhone is the largest and extends up as far north as the Jura Mountains encompassing areas even on the north side of the Alps 48 The basins of the Ebro Po and Maritsa are respectively south of the Pyrenees Alps and Balkan Mountains which are the major ranges bordering Southern Europe Total annual precipitation is significantly higher on the European part of the Mediterranean basin especially near the Alps the water tower of Europe and other high mountain ranges As a consequence the river discharges of the Rhone and Po are similar to that of the Nile despite the latter having a much larger basin 46 These are the only three rivers with an average discharge of over 1 000 m3 s 35 000 cu ft s 43 Among large natural fresh bodies of water are Lake Victoria Nile basin Lake Geneva Rhone and the Italian Lakes Po While the Mediterranean watershed is bordered by other river basins in Europe it is essentially bordered by endorheic basins or deserts elsewhere The following countries are in the Mediterranean drainage basin while not having a coastline on the Mediterranean Sea In Europe through various rivers 47 Andorra note 2 Bulgaria note 3 Kosovo note 4 North Macedonia note 5 San Marino note 6 Serbia note 7 and Switzerland note 8 In Africa through the Nile 50 Congo Burundi Eritrea Ethiopia Kenya Rwanda South Sudan Sudan Tanzania and Uganda Coastal countries edit For a more comprehensive list see List of Mediterranean countries nbsp Map of the Mediterranean Sea from open Natural Earth data 2020 The following countries have a coastline on the Mediterranean Sea Northern shore from west to east Spain France Monaco Italy Slovenia Croatia Bosnia and Herzegovina Montenegro Albania Greece Turkey Eastern shore from north to south Turkey Syria Lebanon Israel Palestine Egypt Southern shore from west to east Morocco Algeria Tunisia Libya Egypt Island nations Malta Cyprus Several other territories also border the Mediterranean Sea from west to east the British overseas territory of Gibraltar the Spanish autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla and nearby islands the Sovereign Base Areas on Cyprus the Palestinian Gaza Strip nbsp Alexandria the largest city on the Mediterranean nbsp Barcelona the second largest metropolitan area on the Mediterranean Sea after Alexandria and the headquarters of the Union for the Mediterranean nbsp The Acropolis of Athens with the Mediterranean Sea in the background nbsp The ancient port of Jaffa now in Tel Aviv Yafo from which the biblical Jonah set sail before being swallowed by a whale 51 nbsp Catania Sicily Italy with Mount Etna in the background nbsp Izmir the third metropolis of Turkey after Istanbul and Ankara Exclusive economic zone edit Exclusive economic zones in Mediterranean Sea 52 53 Number Country Area Km2 1 nbsp Italy 541 915 2 nbsp Greece 493 708 3 nbsp Libya 355 604 4 nbsp Spain 260 000 5 nbsp Egypt 169 125 6 nbsp Algeria 128 843 7 nbsp Tunisia 102 047 8 nbsp Cyprus 98 088 9 nbsp France 88 389 10 nbsp Turkey 72 195 11 nbsp Croatia 59 032 12 nbsp Malta 55 542 13 nbsp Israel 25 139 14 nbsp Lebanon 19 265 15 nbsp Morocco 18 302 16 nbsp Albania 13 691 17 nbsp Syria 10 189 18 nbsp Montenegro 7 745 19 nbsp Palestine 2 591 20 nbsp Monaco 288 21 nbsp Slovenia 220 22 nbsp Bosnia and Herzegovina 50 23 nbsp United Kingdom 6 8 Total Mediterranean Sea 2 500 000 Coastline length edit The Coastline length is about 46 000 km 54 55 56 Coastal cities edit For a more comprehensive list see List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea Major cities municipalities with populations larger than 200 000 people bordering the Mediterranean Sea include Algeria Algiers Annaba Oran Egypt Alexandria Damietta Port Said France Marseille Toulon Nice Greece Athens Thessaloniki Patras Heraklion Israel Ashdod Haifa Netanya Rishon LeZion Tel Aviv Italy Bari Catania Genoa Messina Naples Palermo Rome Pescara Taranto Trieste Venice Lebanon Beirut Tripoli Libya Benghazi Misrata Tripoli Zawiya Zliten Malta Valletta Morocco Tetouan Tangier Palestine Gaza City Spain Alicante Almeria Badalona Barcelona Cartagena Malaga Palma de Mallorca Valencia Syria Latakia Tartus Tunisia Sfax Sousse Tunis Turkey Alanya Antalya Canakkale Iskenderun Izmir Mersin Subdivisions edit nbsp Africa left on horizon and Europe right as seen from Gibraltar The International Hydrographic Organization IHO divides the Mediterranean into a number of smaller waterbodies each with their own designation from west to east 40 the Strait of Gibraltar the Alboran Sea between Spain and Morocco the Balearic Sea between mainland Spain and its Balearic Islands the Ligurian Sea between Corsica and Liguria Italy the Tyrrhenian Sea enclosed by Sardinia Corsica Italian peninsula and Sicily the Ionian Sea between Italy Albania and Greece the Adriatic Sea between Italy Slovenia Croatia Bosnia and Herzegovina Montenegro and Albania the Aegean Sea between Greece and Turkey Other seas edit nbsp Positano Italy Tyrrhenian Sea Some other seas whose names have been in common use from the ancient times or in the present the Sea of Sardinia between Sardinia and Balearic Islands as a part of the Balearic Sea the Sea of Sicily between Sicily and Tunisia the Libyan Sea between Libya and Crete In the Aegean Sea the Thracian Sea in its north the Myrtoan Sea between the Cyclades and the Peloponnese the Sea of Crete north of Crete the Icarian Sea between Kos and Chios the Cilician Sea between Turkey and Cyprus the Levantine Sea at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Many of these smaller seas feature in local myth and folklore and derive their names from such associations Other features edit nbsp View of the Saint George Bay and snow capped Mount Sannine from a tower in the Beirut Central District nbsp The Port of Marseille seen from L Estaque nbsp Sarande Albania stands on an open sea gulf of the Ionian sea in the central Mediterranean nbsp Serra de Tramuntana Mallorca In addition to the seas a number of gulfs and straits are recognised the Saint George Bay in Beirut Lebanon the Ras Ibn Hani cape in Latakia Syria the Ras al Bassit cape in northern Syria the Minet el Beida White Harbour bay near ancient Ugarit Syria the Strait of Gibraltar connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Spain from Morocco the Bay of Algeciras at the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula the Gulf of Corinth an enclosed sea between the Ionian Sea and the Corinth Canal the Pagasetic Gulf the gulf of Volos south of the Thermaic Gulf formed by the Mount Pelion peninsula the Saronic Gulf the gulf of Athens between the Corinth Canal and the Mirtoan Sea the Thermaic Gulf the gulf of Thessaloniki located in the northern Greek region of Macedonia the Kvarner Gulf Croatia the Gulf of Almeria southeast of Spain the Gulf of Lion south of France the Gulf of Valencia east of Spain the Strait of Messina between Sicily and Calabrian peninsula the Gulf of Genoa northwestern Italy the Gulf of Venice northeastern Italy the Gulf of Trieste northeastern Italy the Gulf of Taranto southern Italy the Gulf of Saint Euphemia southern Italy with the international airport nearby the Gulf of Salerno southwestern Italy the Gulf of Gaeta southwestern Italy the Gulf of Squillace southern Italy the Strait of Otranto between Italy and Albania the Gulf of Haifa northern Israel the Gulf of Sidra between Tripolitania western Libya and Cyrenaica eastern Libya the Strait of Sicily between Sicily and Tunisia the Corsica Channel between Corsica and Italy the Strait of Bonifacio between Sardinia and Corsica the Gulf of Antalya between west and east shores of Antalya Turkey the Gulf of Iskenderun between Iskenderun and Adana Turkey the Gulf of Izmir in Izmir Turkey the Gulf of Fethiye in Fethiye Turkey the Gulf of Kusadasi in Izmir Turkey the Bay of Kotor in south western Montenegro and south eastern Croatia the Malta Channel between Sicily and Malta the Gozo Channel between Malta Island and Gozo Largest islands edit Main article List of islands in the Mediterranean nbsp The two biggest islands of the Mediterranean Sicily and Sardinia Italy nbsp XVI century watchtower on the coast of Sardinia The Mediterranean Sea encompasses about 10 000 islands and islets of which about 250 are permanently inhabited 57 In the table below are listed the ten largest by size Country Island Area in km2 Population Italy Sicily 25 460 5 048 995 Italy Sardinia 23 821 1 672 804 Cyprus Cyprus 9 251 1 088 503 France Corsica 8 680 299 209 Greece Crete 8 336 623 666 Greece Euboea 3 655 218 000 Spain Majorca 3 640 869 067 Greece Lesbos 1 632 90 643 Greece Rhodes 1 400 117 007 Greece Chios 842 51 936 Climate edit Much of the Mediterranean coast enjoys a hot summer Mediterranean climate However most of its southeastern coast has a hot desert climate and much of Spain s eastern Mediterranean coast has a cold semi arid climate while most of Italy s northern Adriatic coast has a humid subtropical climate Although they are rare tropical cyclones occasionally form in the Mediterranean Sea typically in September November nbsp Map of climate zones in the areas surrounding the Mediterranean Sea according to the Koppen climate classification Sea temperature edit Mean sea temperature C Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year Malaga 58 16 15 16 16 18 20 22 23 22 20 18 17 18 6 Barcelona 59 13 12 13 14 17 20 23 25 23 20 17 15 17 8 Marseille 60 13 13 13 14 16 18 21 22 21 18 16 14 16 6 Naples 61 15 14 14 15 18 22 25 27 25 22 19 16 19 3 Malta 62 16 16 15 16 18 21 24 26 25 23 21 18 19 9 Venice 63 11 10 11 13 18 22 25 26 23 20 16 14 17 4 Athens 64 16 15 15 16 18 21 24 24 24 21 19 18 19 3 Heraklion 65 16 15 15 16 19 22 24 25 24 22 20 18 19 7 Antalya 66 17 17 16 17 21 24 27 29 27 25 22 19 21 8 Limassol 67 18 17 17 18 20 24 26 28 27 25 22 19 21 7 Mersin 68 18 17 17 18 21 25 28 29 28 25 22 19 22 3 Tel Aviv 69 18 17 17 18 21 24 27 28 28 26 23 20 22 3 Alexandria 70 18 17 17 18 20 23 25 26 26 25 22 20 21 4Oceanography edit nbsp Predominant surface currents for June Being nearly landlocked affects conditions in the Mediterranean Sea for instance tides are very limited as a result of the narrow connection with the Atlantic Ocean The Mediterranean is characterised and immediately recognised by its deep blue colour Evaporation greatly exceeds precipitation and river runoff in the Mediterranean a fact that is central to the water circulation within the basin 71 Evaporation is especially high in its eastern half causing the water level to decrease and salinity to increase eastward 72 The average salinity in the basin is 38 PSU at 5 m depth 73 The temperature of the water in the deepest part of the Mediterranean Sea is 13 2 C 55 8 F 73 The net water influx from the Atlantic Ocean is ca 70 000 m3 s or 2 2 1012 m3 a 7 8 1013 cu ft a 74 Without this Atlantic water the sea level of the Mediterranean Sea would fall at a rate of about 1 m per year 75 In oceanography it is sometimes called the Eurafrican Mediterranean Sea the European Mediterranean Sea or the African Mediterranean Sea to distinguish it from mediterranean seas elsewhere 76 who else General circulation edit Water circulation in the Mediterranean can be attributed to the surface waters entering from the Atlantic through the Strait of Gibraltar and also low salinity water entering the Mediterranean from the Black Sea through the Bosphorus The cool and relatively low salinity Atlantic water circulates eastwards along the North African coasts A part of the surface water does not pass the Strait of Sicily but deviates towards Corsica before exiting the Mediterranean The surface waters entering the eastern Mediterranean Basin circulate along the Libyan and Israeli coasts Upon reaching the Levantine Sea the surface waters having warmed and increased its salinity from its initial Atlantic state is now denser and sinks to form the Levantine Intermediate Waters LIW Most of the water found anywhere between 50 and 600 m deep in the Mediterranean originates from the LIW 77 LIW are formed along the coasts of Turkey and circulate westwards along the Greek and south Italian coasts LIW are the only waters passing the Sicily Strait westwards After the Strait of Sicily the LIW waters circulate along the Italian French and Spanish coasts before exiting the Mediterranean through the depths of the Strait of Gibraltar Deep water in the Mediterranean originates from three main areas the Adriatic Sea from which most of the deep water in the eastern Mediterranean originates the Aegean Sea and the Gulf of Lion Deep water formation in the Mediterranean is triggered by strong winter convection fueled by intense cold winds like the Bora When new deep water is formed the older waters mix with the overlaying intermediate waters and eventually exit the Mediterranean The residence time of water in the Mediterranean is approximately 100 years making the Mediterranean especially sensitive to climate change 78 Other events affecting water circulation edit Being a semi enclosed basin the Mediterranean experiences transitory events that can affect the water circulation on short time scales In the mid 1990s the Aegean Sea became the main area for deep water formation in the eastern Mediterranean after particularly cold winter conditions This transitory switch in the origin of deep waters in the eastern Mediterranean was termed Eastern Mediterranean Transient EMT and had major consequences on water circulation of the Mediterranean 79 80 81 Another example of a transient event affecting the Mediterranean circulation is the periodic inversion of the North Ionian Gyre which is an anticyclonic ocean gyre observed in the northern part of the Ionian Sea off the Greek coast The transition from anticyclonic to cyclonic rotation of this gyre changes the origin of the waters fueling it when the circulation is anticyclonic most common the waters of the gyre originate from the Adriatic Sea When the circulation is cyclonic the waters originate from the Levantine Sea These waters have different physical and chemical characteristics and the periodic inversion of the North Ionian Gyre called Bimodal Oscillating System or BiOS changes the Mediterranean circulation and biogeochemistry around the Adriatic and Levantine regions 82 Climate change edit Because of the short residence time of waters the Mediterranean Sea is considered a hot spot for climate change effects 83 Deep water temperatures have increased by 0 12 C 0 22 F between 1959 and 1989 84 According to climate projections the Mediterranean Sea could become warmer The decrease in precipitation over the region could lead to more evaporation ultimately increasing the Mediterranean Sea salinity 83 85 Because of the changes in temperature and salinity the Mediterranean Sea may become more stratified by the end of the 21st century with notable consequences on water circulation and biogeochemistry The stratification and warming have already led to the eastern Mediterranean to become a net source of CO2 to the atmosphere 86 87 notably during summer This strong summer degassing combined with the prolonged and pronounced stratification results in the formation of aragonite crystals abiotically in the water column 88 The cumulative warming at the surface of the Mediterranean has a significant impact on the ecological system Extreme warming has led to biodiversity loss 89 and presents an existential threat to some habitats 90 while making conditions more hospitable to invasive tropical species 91 Biogeochemistry editIn spite of its great biodiversity concentrations of chlorophyll and nutrients in the Mediterranean Sea are very low making it one of the most oligotrophic ocean regions in the world The Mediterranean Sea is commonly referred to as an LNLC Low Nutrient Low Chlorophyll area The Mediterranean Sea fits the definition of a desert in which its nutrient contents are low making it difficult for plants and animals to develop There are steep gradients in nutrient concentrations chlorophyll concentrations and primary productivity in the Mediterranean Nutrient concentrations in the western part of the basin are about double the concentrations in the eastern basin The Alboran Sea close to the Strait of Gibraltar has a daily primary productivity of about 0 25 g C grams of carbon m 2 day 1 whereas the eastern basin has an average daily productivity of 0 16 g C m 2 day 1 92 For this reason the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea is termed ultraoligotrophic The productive areas of the Mediterranean Sea are few and small High i e more than 0 5 grams of Chlorophyll a per cubic meter productivity occurs in coastal areas close to the river mouths which are the primary suppliers of dissolved nutrients The Gulf of Lion has a relatively high productivity because it is an area of high vertical mixing bringing nutrients to the surface waters that can be used by phytoplankton to produce Chlorophyll a 93 Primary productivity in the Mediterranean is also marked by an intense seasonal variability In winter the strong winds and precipitation over the basin generate vertical mixing bringing nutrients from the deep waters to the surface where phytoplankton can convert it into biomass 94 However in winter light may be the limiting factor for primary productivity Between March and April spring offers the ideal trade off between light intensity and nutrient concentrations in surface for a spring bloom to occur In summer high atmospheric temperatures lead to the warming of the surface waters The resulting density difference virtually isolates the surface waters from the rest of the water column and nutrient exchanges are limited As a consequence primary productivity is very low between June and October 95 93 Oceanographic expeditions uncovered a characteristic feature of the Mediterranean Sea biogeochemistry most of the chlorophyll production does not occur on the surface but in sub surface waters between 80 and 200 meters deep 96 Another key characteristic of the Mediterranean is its high nitrogen to phosphorus ratio N P Redfield demonstrated that most of the world s oceans have an average N P ratio around 16 However the Mediterranean Sea has an average N P between 24 and 29 which translates a widespread phosphorus limitation clarification needed 97 98 99 100 Because of its low productivity plankton assemblages in the Mediterranean Sea are dominated by small organisms such as picophytoplankton and bacteria 101 102 Geology editSee also Geology and paleoclimatology of the Mediterranean Basin nbsp A submarine karst spring called vrulja near Omis observed through several ripplings of an otherwise calm sea surface The geologic history of the Mediterranean Sea is complex Underlain by oceanic crust the sea basin was once thought to be a tectonic remnant of the ancient Tethys Ocean it is now known to be a structurally younger basin called the Neotethys which was first formed by the convergence of the African and Eurasian plates during the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic Because it is a near landlocked body of water in a normally dry climate the Mediterranean is subject to intensive evaporation and the precipitation of evaporites The Messinian salinity crisis started about six million years ago mya when the Mediterranean became landlocked and then essentially dried up There are salt deposits accumulated on the bottom of the basin of more than a million cubic kilometres in some places more than three kilometres thick 103 104 Scientists estimate that the sea was last filled about 5 3 million years ago mya in less than two years by the Zanclean flood Water poured in from the Atlantic Ocean through a newly breached gateway now called the Strait of Gibraltar at an estimated rate of about three orders of magnitude one thousand times larger than the current flow of the Amazon River 105 The Mediterranean Sea has an average depth of 1 500 m 4 900 ft and the deepest recorded point is 5 267 m 17 280 ft in the Calypso Deep in the Ionian Sea The coastline extends for 46 000 km 29 000 mi A shallow submarine ridge the Strait of Sicily between the island of Sicily and the coast of Tunisia divides the sea in two main subregions the Western Mediterranean with an area of about 850 000 km2 330 000 mi2 and the Eastern Mediterranean of about 1 65 million km2 640 000 mi2 Coastal areas have submarine karst springs or vrulja s which discharge pressurised groundwater into the water from below the surface the discharge water is usually fresh and sometimes may be thermal 106 107 Tectonics and paleoenvironmental analysis edit This section does not cite any sources Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed October 2018 Learn how and when to remove this template message The Mediterranean basin and sea system were established by the ancient African Arabian continent colliding with the Eurasian continent As Africa Arabia drifted northward it closed over the ancient Tethys Ocean which had earlier separated the two supercontinents Laurasia and Gondwana At about that time in the middle Jurassic period roughly 170 million years ago dubious discuss a much smaller sea basin dubbed the Neotethys was formed shortly before the Tethys Ocean closed at its western Arabian end The broad line of collisions pushed up a very long system of mountains from the Pyrenees in Spain to the Zagros Mountains in Iran in an episode of mountain building tectonics known as the Alpine orogeny The Neotethys grew larger during the episodes of collisions and associated foldings and subductions that occurred during the Oligocene and Miocene epochs 34 to 5 33 mya see animation Africa Arabia colliding with Eurasia Accordingly the Mediterranean basin consists of several stretched tectonic plates in subduction which are the foundation of the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea Various zones of subduction contain the highest oceanic ridges east of the Ionian Sea and south of the Aegean The Central Indian Ridge runs east of the Mediterranean Sea south east across the in between clarification needed of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula into the Indian Ocean Messinian salinity crisis edit nbsp Messinian salinity crisis before the Zanclean flood source source source source source source source source Animation Messinian salinity crisis Main article Messinian salinity crisis During Mesozoic and Cenozoic times as the northwest corner of Africa converged on Iberia it lifted the Betic Rif mountain belts across southern Iberia and northwest Africa There the development of the intramontane Betic and Rif basins created two roughly parallel marine gateways between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea Dubbed the Betic and Rifian corridors they gradually closed during the middle and late Miocene perhaps several times 108 In the late Miocene the closure of the Betic Corridor triggered the so called Messinian salinity crisis MSC characterized by the deposition of a thick evaporitic sequence with salt deposits up to 2 km thick in the Levantine sea and by a massive drop in water level in much of the Basin This event was for long the subject of acute scientific controversy now much appeased 109 regarding its sequence geographic range processes leading to evaporite facies and salt deposits The start of the MSC was recently estimated astronomically at 5 96 mya and it persisted for some 630 000 years until about 5 3 mya 110 see Animation Messinian salinity crisis at right After the initial drawdown clarification needed and re flooding there followed more episodes the total number is debated of sea drawdowns and re floodings for the duration of the MSC It ended when the Atlantic Ocean last re flooded the basin creating the Strait of Gibraltar and causing the Zanclean flood at the end of the Miocene 5 33 mya Some research has suggested that a desiccation flooding desiccation cycle may have repeated several times which could explain several events of large amounts of salt deposition 111 112 Recent studies however show that repeated desiccation and re flooding is unlikely from a geodynamic point of view 113 114 Desiccation and exchanges of flora and fauna edit See also Pleistocene megafauna and Dwarf elephant The present day Atlantic gateway the Strait of Gibraltar originated in the early Pliocene via the Zanclean Flood As mentioned there were two earlier gateways the Betic Corridor across southern Spain and the Rifian Corridor across northern Morocco The Betic closed about 6 mya causing the Messinian salinity crisis MSC the Rifian or possibly both gateways closed during the earlier Tortonian times causing a Tortonian salinity crisis from 11 6 to 7 2 mya long before the MSC and lasting much longer Both crises resulted in broad connections between the mainlands of Africa and Europe which allowed migrations of flora and fauna especially large mammals including primates between the two continents The Vallesian crisis indicates a typical extinction and replacement of mammal species in Europe during Tortonian times following climatic upheaval and overland migrations of new species 115 see Animation Messinian salinity crisis and mammal migrations at right The almost complete enclosure of the Mediterranean basin has enabled the oceanic gateways to dominate seawater circulation and the environmental evolution of the sea and basin Circulation patterns are also affected by several other factors including climate bathymetry and water chemistry and temperature which are interactive and can induce precipitation of evaporites Deposits of evaporites accumulated earlier in the nearby Carpathian foredeep during the Middle Miocene and the adjacent Red Sea Basin during the Late Miocene and in the whole Mediterranean basin during the MSC and the Messinian age Many diatomites are found underneath the evaporite deposits suggesting a connection between their clarification needed formations Today evaporation of surface seawater output is more than the supply input of fresh water by precipitation and coastal drainage systems causing the salinity of the Mediterranean to be much higher than that of the Atlantic so much so that the saltier Mediterranean waters sink below the waters incoming from the Atlantic causing a two layer flow across the Strait of Gibraltar that is an outflow submarine current of warm saline Mediterranean water counterbalanced by an inflow surface current of less saline cold oceanic water from the Atlantic In the 1920s Herman Sorgel proposed the building of a hydroelectric dam the Atlantropa project across the Straits using the inflow current to provide a large amount of hydroelectric energy The underlying energy grid was also intended to support a political union between Europe and at least the Maghreb part of Africa compare Eurafrika for the later impact and Desertec for a later project with some parallels in the planned grid 116 Shift to a Mediterranean climate edit The end of the Miocene also marked a change in the climate of the Mediterranean basin Fossil evidence from that period reveals that the larger basin had a humid subtropical climate with rainfall in the summer supporting laurel forests The shift to a Mediterranean climate occurred largely within the last three million years the late Pliocene epoch as summer rainfall decreased The subtropical laurel forests retreated and even as they persisted on the islands of Macaronesia off the Atlantic coast of Iberia and North Africa the present Mediterranean vegetation evolved dominated by coniferous trees and sclerophyllous trees and shrubs with small hard waxy leaves that prevent moisture loss in the dry summers Much of these forests and shrublands have been altered beyond recognition by thousands of years of human habitation There are now very few relatively intact natural areas in what was once a heavily wooded region Paleoclimate editBecause of its latitude and its landlocked position the Mediterranean is especially sensitive to astronomically induced climatic variations which are well documented in its sedimentary record Since the Mediterranean is subject to the deposition of eolian dust from the Sahara during dry periods whereas riverine detrital input prevails during wet ones the Mediterranean marine sapropel bearing sequences provide high resolution climatic information These data have been employed in reconstructing astronomically calibrated time scales for the last 9 Ma of the Earth s history helping to constrain the time of past geomagnetic reversals 117 Furthermore the exceptional accuracy of these paleoclimatic records has improved our knowledge of the Earth s orbital variations in the past Biodiversity edit nbsp Soft coral Eunicella cavolini Unlike the vast multidirectional ocean currents in open oceans within their respective oceanic zones biodiversity in the Mediterranean Sea is stable due to the subtle but strong locked nature of currents which is favourable to life even the smallest macroscopic type of volcanic life form The stable marine ecosystem of the Mediterranean Sea and sea temperature provides a nourishing environment for life in the deep sea to flourish while assuring a balanced aquatic ecosystem excluded from any external deep oceanic factors It is estimated that there are more than 17 000 marine species in the Mediterranean Sea with generally higher marine biodiversity in coastal areas continental shelves and decreases with depth 118 As a result of the drying of the sea during the Messinian salinity crisis 119 the marine biota of the Mediterranean are derived primarily from the Atlantic Ocean The North Atlantic is considerably colder and more nutrient rich than the Mediterranean and the marine life of the Mediterranean has had to adapt to its differing conditions in the five million years since the basin was reflooded The Alboran Sea is a transition zone between the two seas containing a mix of Mediterranean and Atlantic species The Alboran Sea has the largest population of bottlenose dolphins in the Western Mediterranean is home to the last population of harbour porpoises in the Mediterranean and is the most important feeding grounds for loggerhead sea turtles in Europe The Alboran Sea also hosts important commercial fisheries including sardines and swordfish The Mediterranean monk seals live in the Aegean Sea in Greece In 2003 the World Wildlife Fund raised concerns about the widespread drift net fishing endangering populations of dolphins turtles and other marine animals such as the spiny squat lobster There was a resident population of orcas in the Mediterranean until the 1980s when they went extinct probably due to long term PCB exposure There are still annual sightings of orca vagrants 120 See also Specially Protected Areas of Mediterranean Importance List of fish of the Mediterranean Sea and List of fish of the Black SeaEnvironmental issues editFor 4 000 years human activity has transformed most parts of Mediterranean Europe and the humanisation of the landscape overlapped with the appearance of the present Mediterranean climate 121 The image of a simplistic environmental determinist notion of a Mediterranean paradise on Earth in antiquity which was destroyed by later civilisations dates back to at least the 18th century and was for centuries fashionable in archaeological and historical circles Based on a broad variety of methods e g historical documents analysis of trade relations floodplain sediments pollen tree ring and further archaeometric analyses and population studies Alfred Thomas Grove s and Oliver Rackham s work on The Nature of Mediterranean Europe challenges this common wisdom of a Mediterranean Europe as a Lost Eden a formerly fertile and forested region that had been progressively degraded and desertified by human mismanagement 121 The belief stems more from the failure of the recent landscape to measure up to the imaginary past of the classics as idealised by artists poets and scientists of the early modern Enlightenment 121 nbsp The thermonuclear bomb that fell into the sea recovered off Palomares Almeria 1966 The historical evolution of climate vegetation and landscape in southern Europe from prehistoric times to the present is much more complex and underwent various changes For example some of the deforestation had already taken place before the Roman age While in the Roman age large enterprises such as the latifundia took effective care of forests and agriculture the largest depopulation effects came with the end of the empire Some who assume that the major deforestation took place in modern times the later usage patterns were also quite different e g in southern and northern Italy Also the climate has usually been unstable and there is evidence of various ancient and modern Little Ice Ages 122 page needed and plant cover accommodated to various extremes and became resilient to various patterns of human activity 121 Human activity was therefore not the cause of climate change but followed it 121 The wide ecological diversity typical of Mediterranean Europe is predominantly based on human behaviour as it is and has been closely related to human usage patterns 121 The diversity range clarification needed was enhanced by the widespread exchange and interaction of the longstanding and highly diverse local agriculture intense transport and trade relations and the interaction with settlements pasture and other land use The greatest human induced changes however came after World War II in line with the 1950s syndrome 123 as rural populations throughout the region abandoned traditional subsistence economies Grove and Rackham suggest that the locals left the traditional agricultural patterns and instead became scenery setting agents clarification needed for tourism This resulted in more uniform large scale formations of what 121 Among further current important threats to Mediterranean landscapes are overdevelopment of coastal areas abandonment of mountains and as mentioned the loss of variety via the reduction of traditional agricultural occupations 121 Natural hazards edit nbsp Stromboli volcano in Italy The region has a variety of geological hazards which have closely interacted with human activity and land use patterns Among others in the eastern Mediterranean the Thera eruption dated to the 17th or 16th century BC caused a large tsunami that some experts hypothesise devastated the Minoan civilisation on the nearby island of Crete further leading some to believe that this may have been the catastrophe that inspired the Atlantis legend 124 Mount Vesuvius is the only active volcano on the European mainland while others Mount Etna and Stromboli are on neighbouring islands The region around Vesuvius including the Phlegraean Fields Caldera west of Naples are quite active 125 and constitute the most densely populated volcanic region in the world where an eruptive event may occur within decades 126 Vesuvius itself is regarded as quite dangerous due to a tendency towards explosive Plinian eruptions 127 It is best known for its eruption in AD 79 that led to the burying and destruction of the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum The large experience clarification needed of member states and regional authorities has led to exchange of what on the international level with the cooperation of NGOs states regional and municipality authorities and private persons 128 The Greek Turkish earthquake diplomacy is a quite positive example of natural hazards leading to improved relations between traditional rivals in the region after earthquakes in Izmit and Athens in 1999 The European Union Solidarity Fund EUSF was set up to respond to major natural disasters and express European solidarity to disaster stricken regions within all of Europe 129 The largest amount of funding requests in the EU relates to forest fires followed by floods and earthquakes Forest fires whether human made or natural are a frequent and dangerous hazard in the Mediterranean region 128 Tsunamis are also an often underestimated hazard in the region For example the 1908 Messina earthquake and tsunami took more than 123 000 lives in Sicily and Calabria and were among the deadliest natural disasters in modern Europe Invasive species edit nbsp The reticulate whipray is one of the species that colonised the Eastern Mediterranean through the Suez Canal as part of the ongoing Lessepsian migration The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 created the first salt water passage between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea The Red Sea is higher than the Eastern Mediterranean so the canal functions as a tidal strait that pours Red Sea water into the Mediterranean The Bitter Lakes which are hyper saline natural lakes that form part of the canal blocked the migration of Red Sea species into the Mediterranean for many decades but as the salinity of the lakes gradually equalised with that of the Red Sea the barrier to migration was removed and plants and animals from the Red Sea have begun to colonise the Eastern Mediterranean The Red Sea is generally saltier and more nutrient poor than the Atlantic so the Red Sea species have advantages over Atlantic species in the salty and nutrient poor Eastern Mediterranean Accordingly Red Sea species invade the Mediterranean biota and not vice versa this phenomenon is known as the Lessepsian migration after Ferdinand de Lesseps the French engineer or Erythrean red invasion The construction of the Aswan High Dam across the Nile River in the 1960s reduced the inflow of freshwater and nutrient rich silt from the Nile into the Eastern Mediterranean making conditions there even more like the Red Sea and worsening the impact of the invasive species Invasive species have become a major component of the Mediterranean ecosystem and have serious impacts on the Mediterranean ecology endangering a number of local and endemic Mediterranean species A first look at some groups of marine species shows that over 70 of exotic decapods 130 and some 2 3 of exotic fishes 131 found in the Mediterranean are of Indo Pacific origin introduced from the Red Sea via the Suez Canal This makes the Canal the first pathway of arrival of alien species into the Mediterranean The impacts of some Lessepsian species have proven to be considerable mainly in the Levantine basin of the Mediterranean where they are replacing native species and becoming a familiar sight According to definitions by the Mediterranean Science Commission and the International Union for Conservation of Nature and to Convention on Biological Diversity CBD and Ramsar Convention terminologies they are alien species as they are non native non indigenous to the Mediterranean Sea and are found outside their normal non adjacent area of distribution When these species succeed in establishing populations in the Mediterranean Sea compete with and begin to replace native species they are Alien Invasive Species as they are an agent of change and a threat to the native biodiversity In the context of CBD introduction refers to the movement by human agency indirect or direct of an alien species outside of its natural range past or present The Suez Canal being an artificial human made canal is a human agency Lessepsian migrants are therefore introduced species indirect and unintentional Whatever wording is chosen they represent a threat to the native Mediterranean biodiversity because they are non indigenous to this sea In recent years the Egyptian government s announcement of its intentions to deepen and widen the Canal 132 raised concerns from marine biologists fearing that such an act will only worsen the invasion of Red Sea species into the Mediterranean and lead to even more species passing through the Canal 133 Arrival of new tropical Atlantic species edit In recent decades the arrival of exotic species from the tropical Atlantic has become noticeable In many cases this reflects an expansion favoured by a warming trend of sub tropical Atlantic waters and also by a fast growing maritime traffic of the natural range of species that now enter the Mediterranean through the Strait of Gibraltar While not as intense as Lessepsian migration the process is of importance and is therefore receiving increased levels of scientific coverage 134 Sea level rise edit By 2100 the overall level of the Mediterranean could rise between 3 and 61 cm 1 2 and 24 0 in as a result of the effects of climate change 135 This could have adverse effects on populations across the Mediterranean Rising sea levels will submerge parts of Malta Rising sea levels will also mean rising salt water levels in Malta s groundwater supply and reduce the availability of drinking water 136 A 30 cm 12 in rise in sea level would flood 200 square kilometres 77 sq mi of the Nile Delta displacing over 500 000 Egyptians 137 Cyprus wetlands are also in danger of being destroyed by the rising temperatures and sea levels 138 Coastal ecosystems also appear to be threatened by sea level rise especially enclosed seas such as the Baltic the Mediterranean and the Black Sea These seas have only small and primarily east west movement corridors which may restrict northward displacement of organisms in these areas 139 Sea level rise for the next century 2100 could be between 30 cm 12 in and 100 cm 39 in and temperature shifts of a mere 0 05 0 1 C in the deep sea are sufficient to induce significant changes in species richness and functional diversity 140 Pollution edit Pollution in this region has been extremely high in recent years when The United Nations Environment Programme has estimated that 650 000 000 t 720 000 000 short tons of sewage 129 000 t 142 000 short tons of mineral oil 60 000 t 66 000 short tons of mercury 3 800 t 4 200 short tons of lead and 36 000 t 40 000 short tons of phosphates are dumped into the Mediterranean each year 141 The Barcelona Convention aims to reduce pollution in the Mediterranean Sea and protect and improve the marine environment in the area thereby contributing to its sustainable development 142 Many marine species have been almost wiped out because of the sea s pollution One of them is the Mediterranean monk seal which is considered to be among the world s most endangered marine mammals 143 The Mediterranean is also plagued by marine debris A 1994 study of the seabed using trawl nets around the coasts of Spain France and Italy reported a particularly high mean concentration of debris an average of 1 935 items per km2 144 Shipping edit nbsp A cargo ship cruises towards the Strait of Messina Some of the world s busiest shipping routes are in the Mediterranean Sea In particular the Maritime Silk Road from Asia and Africa leads through the Suez Canal directly into the Mediterranean Sea to its deep water ports in Valencia Piraeus Trieste Genoa Marseilles and Barcelona It is estimated that approximately 220 000 merchant vessels of more than 100 tonnes cross the Mediterranean Sea each year about one third of the world s total merchant shipping These ships often carry hazardous cargo which if lost would result in severe damage to the marine environment The discharge of chemical tank washings and oily wastes also represent a significant source of marine pollution The Mediterranean Sea constitutes 0 7 of the global water surface and yet receives 17 of global marine oil pollution It is estimated that every year between 100 000 t 98 000 long tons and 150 000 t 150 000 long tons of crude oil are deliberately released into the sea from shipping activities nbsp Port of Trieste Approximately 370 000 000 t 360 000 000 long tons of oil are transported annually in the Mediterranean Sea more than 20 of the world total with around 250 300 oil tankers crossing the sea every day An important destination is the Port of Trieste the starting point of the Transalpine Pipeline which covers 40 of Germany s oil demand 100 of the federal states of Bavaria and Baden Wurttemberg 90 of Austria and 50 of the Czech Republic 145 Accidental oil spills happen frequently with an average of 10 spills per year A major oil spill could occur at any time in any part of the Mediterranean 140 nbsp nbsp Valencia nbsp Barcelona nbsp Genoa nbsp Ambarli nbsp Piraeus nbsp Limassol nbsp Fos nbsp Marsaxlokk nbsp La Spezia nbsp Algeciras nbsp Gioia Tauro nbsp Tanger Med nbsp Leghorn nbsp Evyap nbsp Mersin nbsp Haifa nbsp Ashdod nbsp Beirut nbsp Gemlik nbsp Nemrut Bayclass notpageimage Largest ports of the Mediterranean area per total vessel traffic as of 2016 146 Tourism edit nbsp Kemer Beach in Antalya on the Turkish Riviera Turquoise Coast In 2019 Turkey ranked sixth in the world in terms of the number of international tourist arrivals with 51 2 million foreign tourists visiting the country 147 The coast of the Mediterranean has been used for tourism since ancient times as the Roman villa buildings on the Amalfi Coast or in Barcola show From the end of the 19th century in particular the beaches became places of longing for many Europeans and travellers From then on and especially after World War II mass tourism to the Mediterranean began with all its advantages and disadvantages While initially the journey was by train and later by bus or car today the plane is increasingly used 148 Tourism is today one of the most important sources of income for many Mediterranean countries despite the human made geopolitical conflicts clarification needed in the region The countries have tried to extinguish rising human made chaotic zones clarification needed that might affect the region s economies and societies in neighbouring coastal countries and shipping routes Naval and rescue components in the Mediterranean Sea are considered to be among the best citation needed due to the rapid cooperation between various naval fleets Unlike the vast open oceans the sea s closed position facilitates effective naval and rescue missions citation needed considered the safest citation needed and regardless of clarification needed any human made or natural disaster 149 Tourism is a source of income for small coastal communities including islands independent of urban centres However tourism has also played a major role in the degradation of the coastal and marine environment Rapid development has been encouraged by Mediterranean governments to support the large numbers of tourists visiting the region but this has caused serious disturbance to marine habitats by erosion and pollution in many places along the Mediterranean coasts Tourism often concentrates in areas of high natural wealth clarification needed causing a serious threat to the habitats of endangered species such as sea turtles and monk seals Reductions in natural wealth may reduce the incentive for tourists to visit 140 See also Environmental impact of tourism Overfishing edit Main article Overfishing Fish stock levels in the Mediterranean Sea are alarmingly low The European Environment Agency says that more than 65 of all fish stocks in the region are outside safe biological limits and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation that some of the most important fisheries such as albacore and bluefin tuna hake marlin swordfish red mullet and sea bream are threatened date missing There are clear indications that catch size and quality have declined often dramatically and in many areas larger and longer lived species have disappeared entirely from commercial catches Large open water fish like tuna have been a shared fisheries resource for thousands of years but the stocks are now dangerously low In 1999 Greenpeace published a report revealing that the amount of bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean had decreased by over 80 in the previous 20 years and government scientists warn that without immediate action the stock will collapse Marine heatwaves edit Main article Marine heatwave A study showed that climate change related exceptional marine heatwaves in the Mediterranean Sea during 2015 2019 resulted in widespread mass sealife die offs in five consecutive years 150 151 Gallery edit nbsp Europa Point Gibraltar nbsp Old city of Ibiza Town Spain nbsp Panoramic view of La Condamine Monaco nbsp The beach of la Courtade in the Iles d Hyeres France nbsp Sardinia s south coast Italy nbsp Pretty Bay in Birzebbuġa Malta nbsp Panoramic view of Piran Slovenia nbsp Panoramic view of Cavtat Croatia nbsp View of Neum Bosnia and Herzegovina nbsp A view of Sveti Stefan Montenegro nbsp Ksamil Islands Albania nbsp Navagio Greece nbsp Oludeniz Turquoise Coast Turkey nbsp Paphos Cyprus nbsp Burj Islam Beach Latakia Syria nbsp A view of Raouche off the coast of Beirut Lebanon nbsp A view of Haifa Israel nbsp Sunset at the Deir al Balah beach Gaza Strip nbsp Coast of Alexandria view From Bibliotheca Alexandrina Egypt nbsp Ras El Hilal sea caves Libya nbsp Beach of Hammamet Tunisia nbsp Les Aiguades near Bejaia Algeria nbsp El Jebha a port town in MoroccoSee also edit nbsp Oceans portal Aegean dispute Series of controversies between Greece and Turkey over the Aegean Sea Atlantropa Proposed engineering project to create new land within the Mediterranean Sea Babelmed the site of the Mediterranean cultures Cyprus dispute Dispute between Greek and Turkish CypriotsPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets Cyprus Turkey maritime zones dispute Ongoing political dispute in the Mediterranean Eastern Mediterranean Countries that are geographically located to the east of the Mediterranean Sea Euro Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly Parliamentary assemblyPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets Exclusive economic zone of Greece Familial Mediterranean fever Human diseasePages displaying wikidata descriptions as a fallback History of the Mediterranean region Historical development of the Mediterranean Holy League 1571 alliance of European countries from 1571Pages displaying wikidata descriptions as a fallback Libya Turkey maritime deal Maritime boundary treaty between Libya s GNA and TurkeyPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets List of islands in the Mediterranean List of Mediterranean countries Mediterranean diet Diet inspired by the Mediterranean region Mediterranean forests woodlands and scrub Habitat defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature Mediterranean Games Multi sport event of the Mediterranean countries Mediterranean race Outdated grouping of human beings Mediterranean sea oceanography Mostly enclosed sea with limited exchange with outer oceansPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets Piri Reis Turkish admiral and cartographer Early cartographer of the Mediterranean Qattara Depression Project Hydroelectric macro engineering concept in Egypt Seto Inland Sea Japanese Inland Sea also known as the Japanese Mediterranean Sea Tyrrhenian Basin Union for the Mediterranean Intergovernmental organizationNotes edit Not including the area of the Mediterranean Sea Through the Ebro Through the Struma Maritsa and Nestos see Geography of Bulgaria Hydrography Through the Drin Through the Drin and Vardar Through the Marecchia 49 Through the Struma Through the Rhone Po and Adige see Hydrology of SwitzerlandReferences edit Pinet Paul R 2008 Invitation to Oceanography Paleoceanography Vol 30 no 5 Jones amp Barlett Learning p 220 ISBN 978 0 7637 5993 3 Boxer Baruch Mediterranean Sea Encyclopaedia Britannica Archived from the original on 28 September 2023 Retrieved 23 October 2015 Nile River Education National Geographic Society Archived from the original on 8 March 2023 Retrieved 12 March 2023 Golvin Jean Claude 1991 L Egypte restituee Tome 3 Paris Editions Errance p 273 ISBN 978 2 87772 148 6 Geoffrey Rickman The creation of Mare Nostrum 300 BC 500 AD in David Abulafia ed The Mediterranean in History ISBN 1 60606 057 0 2011 p 133 a b Vaso Seirinidou The Mediterranean in Diana Mishkova Balazs Trencsenyi European Regions and Boundaries A Conceptual History series European Conceptual History 3 ISBN 1 78533 585 5 2017 p 80 entry mesogaios Liddell amp Scott Archived from the original on 2 December 2009 Oxford English Dictionary 3rd ed 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graveyard EUobserver 24 October 2013 Archived from the original on 29 October 2014 Retrieved 12 December 2014 Novruz Mammadov The Mediterranean become a burial ground Archived from the original on 25 September 2015 Retrieved 4 May 2015 Over one million sea arrivals reach Europe in 2015 UNHCR The UN Refugee Agency 30 December 2015 Archived from the original on 24 December 2016 Retrieved 20 August 2016 What will Italy s new government mean for migrants The Local Italy 21 May 2018 Archived from the original on 1 April 2019 Retrieved 6 July 2018 African migrants fear for future as Italy struggles with surge in arrivals Reuters 18 July 2017 Archived from the original on 2 April 2019 Retrieved 6 July 2018 Harald Krachler Alois Negrelli der Suezkanalplaner In Wiener Zeitung 18 January 1999 Bai Yan He Xianqiang Yu Shujie Chen Chen Tung 28 February 2018 Changes in the Ecological Environment of the Marginal Seas along the Eurasian Continent from 2003 to 2014 Sustainability 10 3 635 doi 10 3390 su10030635 ISSN 2071 1050 Sea of Crete sea Greece Britannica Archived from the original on 26 March 2023 Retrieved 28 November 2022 a b c Limits of Oceans and Seas 3rd edition PDF International Hydrographic Organization 1953 Archived from the original PDF on 8 October 2011 Retrieved 28 December 2020 Lionello P 2012 The Climate of the Mediterranean Region From the Past to the Future Elsevier p lxii ISBN 978 0 12 391477 4 Archived from the original on 1 January 2024 Retrieved 1 May 2022 Geographically the Mediterranean catchment is extremely large and heterogeneous covering an area of approximately 5 millions km2 It extends from the equator where the springs of the White Nile River are located to the source of the Rhone River at approximately 48 N In longitude it spans about 40 from the middle of the Iberian peninsula at 4 W towards southern Turkey and the Middle East coasts facing the Mediterranean Sea 35 E Poulos Serafeim 2011 An insight to the fluvial characteristics of the 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Mediterranean and Black seas are defined according to the global continental runoff pathways scheme Oki and Sud 1998 and they cover 5 34 106 and 2 43 106 km2 respectively Gupta Avijit 2008 Large Rivers Geomorphology and Management John Wiley amp Sons p 275 ISBN 978 0 470 72371 5 Archived from the original on 1 January 2024 Retrieved 1 May 2022 The highest point in the Nile basin is Mount Stanley 5109 m in the Ruwenzori Mountain range between Lake Edward and Lake Albert a b The Mediterranean Marine and Coastal Environment Hydrological and climatic setting Mediterranean Action Plan of the United Nations Environment Programme UNEP MAP Archived from the original on 24 October 2021 Retrieved 16 April 2022 The Mediterranean is an area of transition between a temperate Europe with relatively abundant and consistent water resources and the arid African and Arabian deserts that are very short of water a b Drainage basin of the Mediterranean Sea Our Waters Joining Hands Across Borders First 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combined population totals over 300 million people Egypt Ethiopia Eritrea Kenya Rwanda Burundi Tanzania Uganda Sudan South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo The Nile s primary water source Lake Victoria is the world s second largest body of fresh water and the Nile Delta in northern Egypt covers over 150 miles of the Mediterranean coastline Jonah 1 3 But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD and went down to Joppa and he found a ship going to Tarshish so he paid the fare thereof and went down into it to go with them unto Tarshish Sea Around Us Fisheries Ecosystems and Biodiversity seaaroundus org Archived from the original on 23 February 2016 Retrieved 15 September 2020 Sea Around Us Fisheries Ecosystems and Biodiversity Archived from the original on 23 February 2016 Retrieved 27 November 2020 Mediterranean Sea Facts History Islands amp Countries Encyclopedia Britannica Archived from the original on 28 September 2023 Retrieved 15 September 2020 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links editDickson Henry Newton 1911 Mediterranean Sea Encyclopaedia Britannica Vol 18 11th ed pp 67 69 Mediterranean Sea Microorganisms 180 images of Foraminifera Eastern Mediterranean Sea Long Term Ecological Research Station Portal nbsp GeographyMediterranean Sea at Wikipedia s sister projects nbsp Definitions from Wiktionary nbsp Media from Commons nbsp News from Wikinews nbsp Quotations from Wikiquote nbsp Texts from Wikisource nbsp Resources from Wikiversity nbsp Travel guides from Wikivoyage Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Mediterranean Sea amp oldid 1220737016, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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