Paratethys

Palaeogeographical reorganization of the Tethys–Paratethys region during the Paleogene, from a connected Tethys configuration during the early Eocene (above) to a fragmented and restricted Paratethys region configuration during the Oligocene (below).
Palaeogeographical reorganization of the Tethys–Paratethys region during the Paleogene, from a connected Tethys configuration during the early Eocene (above) to a fragmented and restricted Paratethys region configuration during the Oligocene (below). Note the loss of deep-water connections between the Indian Ocean region and the Mediterranean, the complete loss of Indian–Arctic Ocean connections, and the closure of most of the Eocene seaways in the Oligocene time.[1]
Megafaunal diversity of the Paratethys megalake included cetaceans and pinnipeds most notably the Cetotherium riabinini went thorough a presumed insular dwarfism.

The Paratethys sea, Paratethys ocean, Paratethys realm or just Paratethys was a large shallow inland sea that stretched from the region north of the Alps over Central Europe to the Aral Sea in Central Asia.

Paratethys was peculiar due to its paleogeography: it consisted of a series of deep basins, formed during the Oxfordian stage of the Late Jurassic as an extension of the rift that formed the Central Atlantic Ocean[citation needed]. These basins were connected with each other and the global ocean by narrow and shallow seaways that often limited water exchange and caused widespread long-term anoxia.[1]

Paratethys was at times reconnected with the Tethys or its successors (the Mediterranean Sea or the Indian Ocean) during the Oligocene and the early and middle Miocene times, but at the onset of the late Miocene epoch, the tectonically trapped sea turned into a megalake from the eastern Alps to what is now Kazakhstan.[2] From the Pliocene epoch onward (after 5 million years ago), Paratethys became progressively shallower. Today's Black Sea, Caspian Sea, Aral Sea, Lake Urmia, Namak Lake and others are remnants of the Paratethys Sea.

Paratethys formed about 34 Mya (million years ago) at the beginning of the Oligocene epoch,[3] when the northern region of the Tethys Ocean (Peri-Tethys) was separated from the Mediterranean region of the Tethys realm due to the formation of the Alps, Carpathians, Dinarides, Taurus and Elburz mountains. During the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, this part of Eurasia was covered by shallow seas that formed the northern margins of the Tethys Ocean. However, because Anatolia, the southern boundary of the Paleo-Tethys Ocean, is a part of the original continent of Cimmeria, the last remnant of the Paleo-Tethys might be oceanic crust under the Black Sea. The Tethys Ocean formed between Laurasia (Eurasia and North America) and Gondwana (Africa, India, Antarctica, Australia and South America) when the supercontinent Pangaea broke up during the Triassic (200 million years ago).

  1. ^ a b Palcu, D.V.; Krijgsman, W. (2023). "The dire straits of Paratethys: gateways to the anoxic giant of Eurasia". Geological Society, London, Special Publications. 523 (1): 111–139. Bibcode:2023GSLSP.523...73P. doi:10.1144/SP523-2021-73. S2CID 245054442.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference perkins2021 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Stampfli, Gérard. "155 Ma - Late Oxfordian (an. M25)" (PDF). University of Lausanne. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-01-13.