Over the course of its many millions of years of existence, our planet has changed its relief and shape more than once. Where the ocean once splashed, mountains and continents arose. And fertile lands became the bottom of lakes or seas. And the seas themselves could change their size, inhabitants and water composition. Until now, many of our contemporaries do not even realize how complex the "organism" is our planet. The Sarmatian Sea will help to verify this, the history of which seems completely amazing and even a little fantastic. If you are ready for an exciting journey into the past, then we can begin our story.
Ancient Ocean Tethys
The Sarmatian Sea traces its history from the ancient Tethys Ocean. It existed about one billion years ago and became the progenitor of all modern oceans and seas. In connection with geological processes on the planet Tethys constantly changed its shape and relief. Over time, the ocean was transformed into several reservoirs, one of which was the Sarmatian Sea.
Sea-lake: a brief description
Usually the first question that comes to mind for everyone who first heard about the Sarmatian Sea is: “Where is this extraordinary pond located or was it?” Geologists have been able to answer it with various soil samples that contain fossilized remains of marine life. Indeed, for quite some time, such fossils found in the Alps, Carpathians, and even in the Himalayan valley were considered confirmation of the story of the Great Flood. She explained in the best possible way why, where there is no water and cannot be, once there were abundant marine animals, and the bottom was completely covered with shells of mollusks.
But with the development of science, scientists were able to find out that Tethys was divided into several reservoirs. One of the largest educated seas was the Pannonian and Sarmatian. The latter occupied quite vast territories. Scientists were able to prove that the Sarmatian Sea stretched from modern Vienna to the Tien Shan mountain system. Initially, it was salty, and its largest islands were the Crimea and the Caucasus. It is believed that the period when the Sarmatian Sea stood out is about fourteen to ten million years ago.
Features of the reservoir
The sea formed several million years ago had one peculiarity, which served as an occasion to call it a lake. The Sarmatian Sea was an isolated body of water that had no connection with the World Ocean. Therefore, the marine inhabitants who got here became peculiar hostages who were forced to adapt to rather strange living conditions. The Mediterranean Sea was south of the Sarmatian, and initially there was a connection between them, but the Carpathian mountains that rose from the bottom radically changed the situation. Since this period, the Sarmatian Sea has become completely closed and replenished only due to the rivers flowing into it.
Stages of changes in topography and composition of sea water
The lack of communication with the oceans made the Sarmatian Sea more and more fresh. Naturally, this immediately affected the marine life, some species of which became extinct due to the inability to adapt to the new composition of the water. However, the situation changed several times, and the Sarmatian Sea repeatedly presented surprises.
Several times due to the movement of tectonic plates, the sea changed the water level and the salt composition in it. This was due to the fact that periodically the Sarmatian Sea through the Bosphorus Strait connected with the Mediterranean Sea, which led to an increase in salinity and replenishment of the marine fauna.
About eight million years ago, thanks to geological changes, the Pontic Sea formed on the site of the once huge pond, combining the present Black and Caspian Seas. Since the reservoir was again deprived of communication with the World Ocean, the water in it was fresh. With a frequency of approximately a million years, the crust sometimes bent, then rose again, so the composition of the water changed significantly.
Subsequently, the Black and Caspian Seas were finally separated by the arising mass of the Caucasus Mountains. Many geologists and historians argue that this was far from the last stage in the existence of the Sarmatian Sea. Scientists believe that it existed several millennia ago and ancient maps and engravings cite this fact. Is this really so, we will discuss a little later.
Marine life
Despite the fact that the Sarmatian Sea was extremely variable, modern oceans and lakes can envy its fauna. Most inhabitants of the depths belonged to representatives of the salt oceans. They managed to adapt to desalination and successfully occupied the entire water area.
Whale is the largest animal that inhabited the Sarmatian Sea. The modern name of this inhabitant of the depths is the cetoterium whale. Besides him, seals, dolphins and even turtles felt great in the sea waters. Numerous mollusk colonies lived in shallow water. Especially vast were the territories inhabited by gastropods. They lived almost everywhere, as evidenced by the found fossilized remains. Scientists claim that the Sarmatian Sea even had several coral reefs. They were not too common, but still this fact says a lot to researchers of the past.
Archaeological finds presented by the Sarmatian Sea
Stavropol and the territories adjacent to it are precisely those places where once the waters of the beautiful sea-lake were noisy. Here, archaeologists quite often find amazing things that reveal a little of the secrets of the life of our planet millions of years before the birth of mankind.
Despite the fact that archaeologists rarely conduct targeted excavations designed to find fossils, they are still constantly reminded of themselves by the Sarmatian Sea. Izobilnensky district, for example, is rich in fossilized remains of mollusks, as well as larger fossils of marine inhabitants. In addition, scientists quite often find bones of land animals, which were attracted by the subtropical climate of the coast.
Scientists believe that it was the climate and rich flora of these places that brought here the first people whose parking lots were located in large numbers on the territory of modern Stavropol.
The riddle of the Sarmatian Sea
Of course, scientists know that the Sarmatian Sea has long ceased to exist, having formed several new water areas divided among themselves, but one mystery still haunts the scientific community.
The fact is that on the geographical maps of the XIV – XV centuries, on the site of modern Belarus, there is a sea called “Sarmatian”! This fact can not be ignored, because this reservoir was marked on several different maps, and Herodotus in his works mentioned a certain sea, which was more like a lake.
However, scientists are a little wary of this data. They are in no hurry to confirm information and reject it. Although numerous facts testify in favor of this version:
- the sea is even depicted on maps of the 16th century;
- on the site of the proposed water area there are completely no traces of human activity;
- the former territory of the sea-lake is very boggy;
- maps of the XVII century still depict the Sarmatian Sea, but already smaller.
Historical facts are stubborn things, so do not argue with them. In addition, the disappearance of the sea due to very prosaic reasons. It was fed only by the rivers flowing into it, which could not recover losses from evaporation. Over time, the pond began to grind and turned into a vast swamp, which also appeared on ancient maps.
Here is just one nuance that bothers scientists in this harmonious theory. Was the sea a consequence of melting glaciers, or were the remnants of that very ancient Sarmatian Sea, which we spoke about at the beginning of the article? Unfortunately, the scientific world cannot yet answer this question.
Sarmatian Sea today
Is it possible to speak of the Sarmatian Sea as something existing today? In part. After all, it gave us the Black, Azov, Caspian seas and the Aral Sea, already lost for humanity. So some scientists say that the ancient sea-lake is still alive and reminds of itself every time we go on vacation to our country's favorite resorts since childhood.