The Geological Institute of Israel has announced the discovery of a new underwater canyon near Cyprus.
The 10-kilometre-wide tunnel is located 500 metres below the sea surface and was buried during the Messinian period, which occurred approximately 5.5 million years ago.
The Eratosthenes canyon was created when the Mediterranean Sea level decreased during the Messinian period, causing a rise in the salinity of the water. This caused gravity currents and dense solutions, which resulted in the destabilization of submarine slopes and subsidence of the seabed, according to the Geological Institute of Israel.
The discovery of this new underwater canyon reveals the environmental conditions of a high salinity and lower sea level in the deep Mediterranean basin during the beginning of the Messinian event, the Geological Institute of Israel said.
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