Researchers at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia discovered that the Red Sea completely dried out about 6.2 million years ago before being suddenly refilled by a catastrophic flood from the Indian Ocean.
These findings reveal one of the most extreme environmental events on Earth seismic imaging, microfossil evidence, and geochemical dating techniques, scientists showed that this massive change occurred within 100,000 years.
The Red Sea was initially connected to the Mediterranean Sea from the north, but this connection was severed, turning the sea into a salt desert
Around 6.2 million years ago, seawater from the Indian Ocean surged through the Bab el-Mandab strait in a catastrophic flood that restored the Red Sea The flood carved a 320-kilometer-long submarine canyon that remains visible on the seafloor today.
This discovery highlights the Red Sea’s importance as a natural laboratory for understanding ocean formation.
