This map, created by Dan Valentin Palcu and his team, depicts Lake Paratetis. The map is part of an article published by Palcu and his team for Nature magazine in 2021.
Paratetis is the largest megalake that has ever existed in the history of Earth, according to existing geological records. This lake formed in Eurasia around 34 million years ago, after the Tethys Ocean closed, and reached an area of 2.8 million square kilometres, larger than the current area of the Mediterranean Sea.
As can be seen on the map, Lake Paratetis stretched from the Alps to the plains of Central Asia, connecting much of the Danube basin, the Black Sea, the Caspian Sea and the Aral Sea. Between 10 and 8 million years ago, the lake began to dry up, losing more than 70% of its total surface area, leaving behind a series of saltwater lakes as remnants, such as the Caspian Sea and the Aral Sea.
The map also shows the significant differences between the coasts of Europe during that period and the current coasts. Similarly, some of the rivers that existed during that geological period can also be seen on the map, the most striking being the Eridanos River, which collected water from much of northern Europe.
Sources
- Late Miocene megalake regressions in Eurasia
- The Paratethys Sea was the largest lake in Earth's history.
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