Vanished Ocean: How Tethys Reshaped the World
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Six million years ago, a vast ocean—which scientists have named Tethys—vanished from the face of the earth. How could such a huge body of water simply disappear? More interesting, how is it possible for scientists to know with certainty that Tethys existed for a quarter of a billion years, a period that includes the entire "Age of Dinosaurs" and almost all of the "Age of Mammals," right up to the point when our distant ancestors began to walk upright. Vanished Ocean tells the fascinating story of Tethys, offering an illuminating account of the scientific evidence for the ocean's existence. Renowned geologist Dorrik Stow describes the powerful forces that shaped the ocean; the marine life it once held and the rich deposits of oil that life left behind; and the impact of its currents on environment and climate. The story of Tethys is also a story of extinctions, floods, and extraordinary episodes such as the virtual drying up of the Mediterranean, before being filled again by a dramatic cascade of water over the straits of Gibraltar. In telling this story, Stow reveals how geologists and oceanographers have spent years proving the former existence of Tethys, from a remarkable series of clues locked away in rocks now exposed high up in mountain ranges and buried in sediments deep beneath today's oceans. Indeed, these myriad clues are now scattered from Morocco to China and from the depths of the Caspian Sea to the highest Himalayan peaks. Here then is the gripping story of the merging and splintering of continents, the rise and fall of mountain ranges, and an ancient, vast ocean that simply vanished from sight. It is a story that reminds us of the profound impact of oceans and their currents on the environment, climate, and life of our planet.
Preface viiiAcknowledgements xi1 Tethys the Sea Goddess 12 Pangaea the Supercontinent and the Birth of Tethys 233 Extinction, Evolution and the Great Cycles of Life 554 Tethyan Fecundity in the Jurassic Seas 795 Black Death to Black Gold 1136 The Greatest Flood of All Time: Rise and Fall of the Seas 1377 End of an Era: The Debate Continues 1628 Portrait of the Tethys Seaway 1879 Closing Ocean, Rising Mountain 21510 Death Throes of an Ocean 24211 Epilogue: Perspective on the Future 265Suggested Further Reading 275Glossary of Terns 277Index 293
