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
The partial sequestration of the Mediterranean Sea from
adjacent oceans at the end of the Miocene caused an
evaporation surfeit that increased the evaporite concen-
tration on the seafloor and peripheral basins. As a result,
an up to 2-3 km thick sequence of evaporites were
deposited in the center of the deep basins. This coincided
with the concomitantly intense subaerial erosion of the
adjacent margins. The Messinian salinity crisis
(MSC) ended with the catastrophic re-flooding of the
Mediterranean. During the Zanclean, slopes and shelves
prograded to reach the modern configurations. Neither the
widespread erosion nor the regional extent of the very
thick halite beds are compatible with a totally desiccated
basin. The volume of evaporites deposited in the deep
basin also implies a permanent or intermittent connection
with the world oceans.



Keywords
Messinian salinity crisis Deep mediterranean basins
Seismic stratigraphy Paleoshores
The partial sequestration of the Mediterranean Sea from
adjacent oceans at the end of the Miocene caused an evap-
oration that increased the evaporite concentration on the
seafloor and peripheral basins. As a result, up to 2–3 km
thick evaporites were deposited in the deep basins [1–3]
(Fig. 1). Concomitantly intense subaerial erosion of the
adjacent margins took place. The Messinian salinity crisis
(MSC) ended with the catastrophic re-flooding of the
Mediterranean [2] and it took a few Myr. to rebuild the
slopes and shelves to their pre-MSC configurations [3–7].
C. Gorini (&)
B. Haq
Institut des Sciences de la Terre Paris, Sorbonne Université,
CNRS-INSU, ISTeP UMR, 4 place jussieu, 7193 Paris, France
e-mail: christian.gorini@upmc.fr
L. Montadert
Beicip-Franlab, 232 AV. N. Bonaparte BP 213,
92502 Rueil-Malmaison Cedex, France
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019
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
Here we illustrate the seismic facies of the salt deposited
in the deep Mediterranean basins during the MSC with
several examples taken from our new observations and from
previous works done by numerous researchers. “Deep
basins” refers to their position in the deep central parts of the
extant Messinian basins that are approximately delineated by
the present-day feet of the Mediterranean slopes and abyssal
plains around the Ligurian-Provencal basin (30 Myr old
basement), the central basins (Ionian) and the eastern basins
(older Tethyan basement, see Fig. 1) even if the configura-
tion of these basins were different 6 Myr ago. The paleo-
bathymetry of these deep basins has been estimated to be
around 2500 m deep in the late Miocene. Given the original
depth of the basins, their bathymetry was still deep even
after the estimated 1500 m sea level fall. The distribution of
evaporitic series and clastics in the eastern and western
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
deposited in hypersaline waters in a bathymetric setting of
around 1000 m deep. The debate concerning the amplitude
of the sea-level drop associated with this crisis and the depth
of deposition of the halite continues because of the confu-
sion in distinguishing between variations in sea level of the
Mediterranean Messinian and the paleobathymetry of the
Mediterranean sub-basins. Moreover the evaluation of
paleogeography during the Messinian is complicated by
rapid subsidence due to the overloading of the basins (vs. the
uplift and tilting of the emerged platforms [4]) and the active
tectonics that has rapidly remodeled the morphologies of
Mediterranean basins in the last 6 Myr. We use
sequence-stratigraphic terminology to facilitate the descrip-
tion and the interpretation we propose, but it should be kept
in mind that the MSC depositional mega-sequence requires
the definition of a model-independent methodology for the
deep Messinian Mediterranean seafloor, which was partly
connected to the global oceans during the MSC. MSC
seismic units correspond to systems tracts deposited in three
main stages that represent a complete sea level cycle: (1) A
3
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
and/or forced regressive prograding units related to the
increasing rate of relative sea level fall. This stage is char-
acterized by a marked shift in the depocenters towards the
deep basins. The falling stage is also characterized by
massive clastic inputs from major Messinian rivers (the
Rhone, Nile, and rivers in the Antalya Gulf) or from smaller
river systems (offshore south Lebanon). These clastics were
deposited in basins that had been oversaturated since the
salinity crisis began, as evidenced by homogeneous
non-transparent seismic facies displaying high seismic
velocities at the base of the MSC depositional series (e.g.,
upper Miocene turbidites) and their inter-fingering with
transparent halite facies; (2) Massive regionally-continuous
halite deposition characterized by transparent facies with no
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
margins. During this last stage, the results of deep sea dril-
ling projects point to shallow water deposition of the evap-
orites. Upslope the presence of smooth surfaces corresponds
to a transgression surface that subsequently re-shaped the
Messinian Erosional Surface which are good indicators of
the position of Messinian paleoshorelines at the end of the
MSC (sea level 600–800 m under the present sea level) [8,
9]. In the vicinity of the Eratosthenes seamount, the upper
Miocene platforms are also a good indicator of the position
of the Messinian paleoshores before the reflooding [6]. If we
have good indicators of the MSC paleoshore positions at the
end of the MSC (e.g. Mediterranean sea level), paleodepth of
deposition of the top of the evaporitic succession is still
controversed.
In conclusion, (1) Neither the wide dispersal of the
clastics nor the regional extent of the very thick halite beds
are compatible with a long term desiccated basin. (2) The
volume of evaporites deposited in the deep basins also
implies a permanent or intermittent connection with the
world oceans. (3) The top of the clastic event is coeval with
the lowest MSC sea level (but not the lowest deposition
depth) and with the sharp transition to the Messinian trans-
parent halite. (4) The thickness of the evaporites records the
rapid precipitation of massive halite that filled the accom-
modation space in a relatively short time and also implies
that it was accompanied by an increase in the accommoda-
tion (flexural subsidence) and continuous supply of brine.
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