Valued image set: Messinian salinity crisis in the Mediterranean sea

	This is a valued image set on Wikimedia Commons. The image has been assessed under the valued image criteria and is considered the most valued image set on Commons within the scope: The Messinian salinity crisis in the Mediterranean sea You can see its nomination at Commons:Valued image candidates/Messinian salinity crisis.
6.5 mya; decrease of seawater exchange between Atlantic and Mediterranean 6 mya; last canal, beginning of salinity crisis 5.96 to 5.33 mya; drying, precipitation of salt, mammalian transit 5.3 mya, flooding through Gibraltar, end of salinity crisis
This set explains in 4 stages the process known as Messinian salinity crisis from 6 to 5.3 million years ago, when the Mediterranean dried (due to its disconnection from the Atlantic) and the salt in its waters accumulated in the bottom of the sea. The dry Mediterranean basin was re-flooded after 700,000 years. The illustrations show the most important stages of this process, including recreations in an inset box. It is the only set of images in Commons that explains the Messinian salinity crisis. The collection of images was created by an art student (via wikiArS initiative) under scientific supervision, and it was reviewed and corrected by a geophysicist before its upload.

Messinian salinity crisis