Ancient Ebro River basin mapped
during which time the Straits of Gibraltar closed and the sea level in
the Mediterranean basin fell by about 1,300 metres.
The area illustrated in the map is currently located more than 2.5 kilometres below the sea bed, but the use of 3D reflection seismology – a technique normally used almost exclusively in oil exploration – allowed the researchers to track the ancient drainage network, coastline and river valleys, channels, meanders and terraces.
‘The results shed light on the way in which the sea level fell during the Messinian (between 5.33 and six million years ago), and imply that the subsequent inundation of the river margins happened extremely quickly,’ said the study’s lead author, Roger Urgeles of the Institute of Sea Sciences of Andalucía.
The map shows that the Ebro River of six million years ago eroded and penetrated up to 1,300 metres into the continental margin. ‘The numerical simulations of fluvial transport and drainage evolution show that the Ebro in the Messinian period was similar in size and drainage basin to the Ebro of today,’ Urgeles said.
July 2011
The area illustrated in the map is currently located more than 2.5 kilometres below the sea bed, but the use of 3D reflection seismology – a technique normally used almost exclusively in oil exploration – allowed the researchers to track the ancient drainage network, coastline and river valleys, channels, meanders and terraces.
‘The results shed light on the way in which the sea level fell during the Messinian (between 5.33 and six million years ago), and imply that the subsequent inundation of the river margins happened extremely quickly,’ said the study’s lead author, Roger Urgeles of the Institute of Sea Sciences of Andalucía.
The map shows that the Ebro River of six million years ago eroded and penetrated up to 1,300 metres into the continental margin. ‘The numerical simulations of fluvial transport and drainage evolution show that the Ebro in the Messinian period was similar in size and drainage basin to the Ebro of today,’ Urgeles said.
July 2011
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