00:00Around 5.3 million years ago, a crucial event reshaped the Mediterranean region.
00:06It was a colossal flood that refilled the local sea,
00:10which had been extremely barren and salty up until that point.
00:14It got the name Zanclean Flood and it forever changed the geography of the area.
00:20The Mediterranean Sea is surrounded by Europe, Africa and Asia
00:24and connects to the ocean by the Strait of Gibraltar.
00:27This is quite a narrow passage measuring about 8 miles.
00:30It may not be that wide, but the Strait plays a crucial role
00:34in maintaining the liquid balance between these two bodies of water.
00:38About 6 million years ago, a bunch of things might have caused the Mediterranean
00:42to be cut off from the Atlantic Ocean.
00:45Some say it was an ice age.
00:47Others speak of tectonic movements, like earthquakes.
00:50Whatever the cause, it pushed the Mediterranean area
00:53into a period called the Mycenaean Salinity Crisis.
00:56For about 1,000 years, the sea slowly evaporated,
01:00leaving behind a dry basin that was several miles below sea level.
01:04This crisis really changed the landscape,
01:07creating conditions similar to those found in today's Dead Sea.
01:11What this means is that the lush Mediterranean beauty
01:14used to be a super salty environment,
01:17containing nearly 10 times more salt than the ocean.
01:20Say you could have visited.
01:22You would have been able to effortlessly float on the little water you could find,
01:26even if you're not a skilled swimmer.
01:29The amount of salt and that mineral content
01:32would have made it challenging for most creatures to survive.
01:35However, some hardy microorganisms, such as bacteria,
01:38could have adapted to these harsh conditions.
01:41These days, at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea,
01:44we can find holes as large as the Grand Canyon,
01:47and they seem to have formed during that same period of dehydration.
01:51Evidence suggests that massive rivers,
01:54such as the Nile and the Rhone,
01:56flowed directly into the Mediterranean back then,
01:59leaving behind canyons as they reached the bottom,
02:02thousands of feet below the sea level.
02:05People had to find some sort of explanation back in the day
02:08for the drying of the Mediterranean,
02:10so they came up with myths and legends.
02:13One such tale was told by the people of southern Iberia,
02:16in modern-day Spain and Portugal.
02:19It was also recounted by a famous Roman writer called Pliny the Elder.
02:23What this legend said was that the Mediterranean
02:26used to be cut out from the ocean until the hero Hercules,
02:29with his mighty sword, carved a path.
02:32He did so between a fictional location in modern-day Africa
02:35and the Rock of Gibraltar.
02:37This allowed the ocean waters to flow in,
02:40transforming the Mediterranean into what we know today.
02:44Some fossils also seem to confirm the unusually large flood.
02:48Remains of marine organisms were found in layers
02:51high above current sea levels.
02:54This means the areas were once submerged underwater.
02:57These fossils belonged to molluscs, fish, and marine mammals.
03:01Because of modern techniques,
03:04we now have at least an estimated timing of the Zanclean flood.
03:07Scientists used computer simulations to reconstruct the event,
03:12providing further evidence that it was real.
03:15What they also discovered is that there is a possibility
03:18the Mediterranean might change once more.
03:21The Strait of Gibraltar could close,
03:24most likely because of movements deep under the ground.
03:27This could lead to the Mediterranean becoming dry again,
03:30over a span of about a thousand years.
03:33The Mediterranean area could disappear altogether
03:36if the African continent keeps shifting north too,
03:39getting closer to Europe.
03:42Another one of those famous yet still a bit hypothetical large floods
03:46is called the Black Sea Deluge Theory.
03:49Some scientists think that around 8400 years ago,
03:52water from the Mediterranean might have spilled over
03:55into the Black Sea through a narrow passage called the Bosporus Strait.
03:59This could have caused a massive disaster,
04:02forcing people living near the Black Sea
04:05to pack up their things and move further inside the continent,
04:08both Europe and Asia.
04:11Along with them, they might have carried stories about this colossal flood.
04:14The specialists that came up with this idea also suggested
04:17that these migrating people might have brought along new ways of farming.
04:21Not everyone from the scientific community is convinced though.
04:25Some argue that while there might have been a flood,
04:28it likely happened earlier and was way smaller.
04:31They didn't think this flood could have caused, for example,
04:34the story of Noah's Ark.
04:37In the end, a spiritual man was warned by a higher entity
04:40that a giant flood was on its way.
04:43The man went to gather pairs of animals and packed them all in a boat
04:46to make sure these species would survive the devastating flood.
04:49There was also the concern among scholars
04:52that discussing real floods and ancient stories too much
04:55might blur the lines between science and fiction.
04:58There may be other reasons why these flood stories
05:01are so often found across different cultures all over our planet.
05:05One idea is that floods were incredibly destructive for early farmers,
05:08so they invented myths about them signaling the end of the world.
05:11Another idea is that people stumbled upon
05:14ancient sea creature fossils in unusual places,
05:17leading them to believe there was a significant flood in the past.
05:23The solution to future floods though might be floating cities.
05:26As sea levels continue to rise,
05:29coastal cities like Amsterdam, New Orleans, and Venice
05:33may go under.
05:36So, floating infrastructure may be the way to go,
05:39with buildings that can rise with the water levels,
05:42making them able to resist extreme weather too.
05:45Countries like the Netherlands, which have a history of managing water risks,
05:48are pioneering these floating creations.
05:51With cities running out of space for expansion,
05:54we might be forced to move on water anyway.
05:57By moving on the water, we can reduce crowding
06:00and find new ways to feed ourselves, like floating gardens.
06:03These homes also come with great alternatives to our energy needs
06:06through systems that use solar and wind power.
06:09Not to mention that these homes might turn out
06:12to be cheaper in the long run.
06:15One such floating city might pop up soon in the Maldives.
06:18Its goal is to host up to 20,000 people
06:21and will feature places to live and eat,
06:24but also shops and schools.
06:27To make it look like coral, the region will include canals
06:30placed between some 5,000 floating pieces of land.
06:33The city will be constructed using modular units,
06:36put together in a construction site nearby.
06:39After they're completed, they'll be towed to the floating city.
06:42The next step is to secure them to a large underwater concrete hull,
06:45which is screwed tightly to the seabed on some steel stilts.
06:48All these pieces of construction
06:51let the modular units easily move as naturally as the sea.
06:54Even for those that are afraid of seasickness,
06:57there's a solution.
07:00That's what the nearby coral reef is for.
07:03It will surround the city, making a natural wave breaker.
07:06Human-made coral banks will also be placed underneath the city,
07:09which will also help coral grow naturally.
07:12The long-term goal is to make the establishment self-sufficient.
07:15It will have electricity, mostly from on-site solar power.
07:18Waste will be treated nearby and reused as plant fertilizer.
07:21Instead of air conditioning,
07:24the city will use deep-sea water cooling.
07:27This method pumps cold water from the deep sea
07:30to cool the area, saving energy.
07:33Earth is not the only planet that's seen some serious floods.
07:36In ancient times,
07:39Mars seems to have experienced them too,
07:42and they played an important role in shaping its surface.
07:45Recent research reveals that billions of years ago,
07:48Mars was heavily affected by some serious river flooding,
07:51which contributed to the formation of its valleys and canyons.
07:54The reason for these floods was heavy rainfall,
07:57which reshaped the Martian landscape in a jiffy,
08:00at times even within days or weeks.
08:03Unlike Earth, where rivers form pretty slowly,
08:06Mars experienced rapid changes because of these floods,
08:09particularly around 4 billion years ago.
08:12We've known for quite some time that there have been floods on Mars,
08:15but this study really showed us their extent.
08:18We now know they were more widespread and frequent
08:21than previously thought.
08:24That's it for today.
08:27So hey, if you pacified your curiosity,
08:30then give the video a like and share it with your friends.
08:33Or if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the Bright Side!
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