Mediterranean Sea Level and Bathymetry

of the Deep Basins During the Salt Giant

Deposition: Inference from Seismic
and Litho-Facies

C. Gorini, L. Montadert, and B. Haq

Abstract Here we illustrate the seismic facies of the salt deposited

The partial sequestration of the Mediterranean Sea from in the deep Mediterranean basins during the MSC with
adjacent oceans at the end of the Miocene caused an several examples taken from our new observations and from
evaporation surfeit that increased the evaporite concen- previous works done by numerous researchers. “Deep
tration on the seafloor and peripheral basins. As a result, basins” refers to their position in the deep central parts of the
an up to 2-3 km thick sequence of evaporites were extant Messinian basins that are approximately delineated by
deposited in the center of the deep basins. This coincided the present-day feet of the Mediterranean slopes and abyssal
with the concomitantly intense subaerial erosion of the plains around the Ligurian-Provencal basin (30 Myr old
adjacent margins. The Messinian salinity crisis basement), the central basins (Ionian) and the eastern basins
(MSC) ended with the catastrophic re-flooding of the (older Tethyan basement, see Fig. 1) even if the configura-
Mediterranean. During the Zanclean, slopes and shelves tion of these basins were different 6 Myr ago. The paleo-
prograded to reach the modern configurations. Neither the bathymetry of these deep basins has been estimated to be
widespread erosion nor the regional extent of the very around 2500 m deep in the late Miocene. Given the original
thick halite beds are compatible with a totally desiccated depth of the basins, their bathymetry was still deep even
basin. The volume of evaporites deposited in the deep after the estimated 1500 m sea level fall. The distribution of
basin also implies a permanent or intermittent connection evaporitic series and clastics in the eastern and western
with the world oceans. Mediterranean deep basins, identified by their seismic facies,
clearly shows that following the sea-level fall and erosion of
the margins, the evaporitic succession in the deep basins was

Keywords
Messinian salinity crisis Deep mediterranean basins deposited in hypersaline waters in a bathymetric setting of
Seismic stratigraphy Paleoshores around 1000 m deep. The debate concerning the amplitude
of the sea-level drop associated with this crisis and the depth
The partial sequestration of the Mediterranean Sea from of deposition of the halite continues because of the confu-
adjacent oceans at the end of the Miocene caused an evap- sion in distinguishing between variations in sea level of the
oration that increased the evaporite concentration on the Mediterranean Messinian and the paleobathymetry of the
seafloor and peripheral basins. As a result, up to 2–3 km Mediterranean sub-basins. Moreover the evaluation of
thick evaporites were deposited in the deep basins [1–3] paleogeography during the Messinian is complicated by
(Fig. 1). Concomitantly intense subaerial erosion of the rapid subsidence due to the overloading of the basins (vs. the
adjacent margins took place. The Messinian salinity crisis uplift and tilting of the emerged platforms [4]) and the active
(MSC) ended with the catastrophic re-flooding of the tectonics that has rapidly remodeled the morphologies of
Mediterranean [2] and it took a few Myr. to rebuild the Mediterranean basins in the last 6 Myr. We use
slopes and shelves to their pre-MSC configurations [3–7]. sequence-stratigraphic terminology to facilitate the descrip-
tion and the interpretation we propose, but it should be kept
C. Gorini (&)
B. Haq in mind that the MSC depositional mega-sequence requires
Institut des Sciences de la Terre Paris, Sorbonne Université, the definition of a model-independent methodology for the
CNRS-INSU, ISTeP UMR, 4 place jussieu, 7193 Paris, France
e-mail: christian.gorini@upmc.fr
deep Messinian Mediterranean seafloor, which was partly
connected to the global oceans during the MSC. MSC
L. Montadert
Beicip-Franlab, 232 AV. N. Bonaparte BP 213,
seismic units correspond to systems tracts deposited in three
92502 Rueil-Malmaison Cedex, France main stages that represent a complete sea level cycle: (1) A

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 3

F. Rossetti et al. (eds.), The Structural Geology Contribution to the Africa-Eurasia Geology:
Basement and Reservoir Structure, Ore Mineralisation and Tectonic Modelling,
Advances in Science, Technology & Innovation, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-01455-1_1
4 C. Gorini et al.

Fig. 1 Position of the thick Messinian salinity crisis evaporites in the western, central, and eastern present-day basins. The position of the extant
major deltas is indicated

falling stage characterized by mass—transport deposits deposition of the top of the evaporitic succession is still
and/or forced regressive prograding units related to the controversed.
increasing rate of relative sea level fall. This stage is char- In conclusion, (1) Neither the wide dispersal of the
acterized by a marked shift in the depocenters towards the clastics nor the regional extent of the very thick halite beds
deep basins. The falling stage is also characterized by are compatible with a long term desiccated basin. (2) The
massive clastic inputs from major Messinian rivers (the volume of evaporites deposited in the deep basins also
Rhone, Nile, and rivers in the Antalya Gulf) or from smaller implies a permanent or intermittent connection with the
river systems (offshore south Lebanon). These clastics were world oceans. (3) The top of the clastic event is coeval with
deposited in basins that had been oversaturated since the the lowest MSC sea level (but not the lowest deposition
salinity crisis began, as evidenced by homogeneous depth) and with the sharp transition to the Messinian trans-
non-transparent seismic facies displaying high seismic parent halite. (4) The thickness of the evaporites records the
velocities at the base of the MSC depositional series (e.g., rapid precipitation of massive halite that filled the accom-
upper Miocene turbidites) and their inter-fingering with modation space in a relatively short time and also implies
transparent halite facies; (2) Massive regionally-continuous that it was accompanied by an increase in the accommoda-
halite deposition characterized by transparent facies with no tion (flexural subsidence) and continuous supply of brine.
clastic input follows the mixed lower clastics and evaporites
deposition stage; (3) The upper part of the evaporites clearly
onlaps the Messinian Erosional Surface of the western basin
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