The Mediterranean Sea is a sea A sea generally refers to a large body of salt water, but the term is used in other contexts as well. Most commonly, the term refers to a large expanse of saline water connected with an ocean, and is commonly used as a synonym for ocean. It is also used sometimes to describe a large saline lake that lacks a natural outlet, such as the Caspian Sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about 106,400,000 square kilometres , it covers approximately twenty percent of the Earth's surface and about twenty-six percent of its water surface area. The first part of its name refers to the Atlas of Greek mythology, making the Atlantic the " surrounded by the Mediterranean region The Mediterranean Basin comprises the lands around and surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea. In biogeography, the Mediterranean Basin refers to the lands around the Mediterranean Sea that have a Mediterranean climate, with mild, rainy winters and hot, dry summers, which supports characteristic Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub vegetation and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey. The region is bounded by the Black Sea to the north, Georgia to the northeast, Armenia to the east, Mesopotamia to the southeast, the Mediterranean Sea to the south and the Aegean Sea to the west. Anatolia and Europe Europe is one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus region (Specification of borders) and the Black Sea to the southeast. Europe is bordered by the Arctic Ocean and, on the south by North Africa North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes seven countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia, and Western Sahara Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Mauritania, and, and on the east by the Levant The Levant (Arabic: , Bilad ash-Shām, also known as المشرق (Mashriq)) describes, traditionally, the Eastern Mediterranean at large, but can be used as a geographical term that denotes a large area in Western Asia formed by the lands bordering the eastern shores of the Mediterranean, roughly bounded on the north by the Taurus Mountains,. The sea is technically a part of the Atlantic Ocean, although it is usually identified as a completely separate body of water.
The name Mediterranean is derived from the Latin Latin or sometimes Roman is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Although often considered a dead language, in view of the fact that it has no native speakers, a small number of scholars can fluently speak it and it continues to be taught in schools and universities and has been, and currently is, used in the process of mediterraneus, meaning "inland" or "in the middle of the earth" (from medius, "middle" and terra, "earth"). It covers an approximate area of 2.5 million km² Square kilometre, symbol km2, is a decimal multiple of the SI unit of surface area, the square metre, one of the SI derived units. 1 km2 is equal to: (965,000 sq mi The square mile is an imperial and US unit of measure for an area equal to the area of a square of one statute mile. It should not be confused with miles square, which refers to the number of miles on each side squared. For instance, 20 miles square (20 × 20 miles) is equal to 400 square miles), but its connection to the Atlantic (the Strait of Gibraltar The Strait of Gibraltar is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Spain in Europe from Morocco in Africa. The name comes from Gibraltar, which in turn originates from the Arabic Jebel Tariq (meaning "Tariq's mountain"), albeit the Arab name for the Strait is Bab el-Zakat or "Gate of) is only 14 km (8.7 mi) wide. In oceanography Oceanography , also called oceanology or marine science, is the branch of Earth science that studies the ocean. It covers a wide range of topics, including marine organisms and ecosystem dynamics; ocean currents, waves, and geophysical fluid dynamics; plate tectonics and the geology of the sea floor; and fluxes of various chemical substances and, it is sometimes called the Eurafrican Mediterranean Sea or the European Mediterranean Sea to distinguish it from mediterranean seas In oceanography, a mediterranean sea is a mostly enclosed sea that has limited exchange of deep water with outer oceans and where the water circulation is dominated by salinity and temperature differences rather than winds elsewhere.[1][2]
The Mediterranean Sea has an average depth of 1,500 m (4,900 ft) and the deepest recorded point is 5,267 m (17,280 ft) in the Calypso Deep Calypso Deep, located in the Ionian Sea south-west of Pylos, Greece, is the deepest part of the Mediterranean Sea, with a maximum depth of 5,267 metres in the Ionian Sea.
It was an important route for merchants and travelers of ancient times that allowed for trade and cultural exchange between emergent peoples of the region — the Mesopotamian Mesopotamia is a toponym for the area of the Tigris-Euphrates river system, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq, as well as some parts of northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey, and southwestern Iran, Egyptian Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. The civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh, and it developed over the next three millennia. Its history, Phoenician Phoenicia was an ancient civilization centered in the north of ancient Canaan, with its heartland along the coastal regions of modern day Lebanon, Palestine, Syria and Israel. Phoenician civilization was an enterprising maritime trading culture that spread across the Mediterranean during the period 1550 BC to 300 BC. Though ancient boundaries of, Carthaginian Carthage refers to a series of cities on the Gulf of Tunis, from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BCE to the current suburb outside Tunis, Tunisia, Iberian Iberian refers to Iberia, which has two basic meanings, the disused, of Caucasian Iberia , and the modern sense of someone or something originating in the Iberian Peninsula, namely from Portugal and Spain. It may refer to:, Greek Ancient Greece is the civilization belonging to the period of Greek history lasting from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to 146 BC and the Roman conquest of Greece after the Battle of Corinth. At the center of this time period is Classical Greece, which flourished during the 5th to 4th centuries BC, at first under Athenian, Illyrian In classical antiquity, Illyria was a region in the western part of today's Balkan Peninsula inhabited by the Illyrians, a heterogeneous coalition of tribes. Very little is known about the Illyrians, though a number of them are assumed to have been united by a common Illyrian language, Thracian The ancient Thracians were a group of Indo-European tribes inhabiting areas in Eastern, Central and Southeastern Europe. They spoke the Thracian language – a scarcely attested branch of the Indo-European language family. The study of Thracians and Thracian culture is known as Thracology, Levantine The Levant (Arabic: بلاد الشام Bilād aš-Šām, also known as Arabic: المشرق al-Māšriq, am-Māšriq) describes, traditionally, the Eastern Mediterranean at large, but can be used as a geographical term that denotes a large area in Western Asia formed by the lands bordering the eastern shores of the Mediterranean, roughly, Gallic The Gauls were a Celtic people living in Gaul, the region roughly corresponding to what is now France and Belgium, from the Iron Age through the Roman period. They spoke the Continental Celtic language called Gaulish, Roman Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea, it became one of the largest empires in the ancient world, Arabic Arabic (العربية al-ʿarabīyah, ( Arabic pronunciation ) or عربي ʿarabī) is a Central Semitic language, thus related to and classified alongside other Semitic languages such as Hebrew and the Neo-Aramaic languages. Arabic has more speakers than any other language in the Semitic language family. It is spoken by more than 280 million, Berber, Jewish The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation. Converts to Judaism, whose status as Jews within the Jewish ethnos , Slavic The Slavic Peoples are an ethnic and linguistic branch of Indo-European peoples, living mainly in central and eastern Europe. From the early 6th century they spread to inhabit most of the Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans. Many settled later in Siberia and Central Asia or emigrated to other parts of the world. Over half of Europe's and Turkish The Turkish people , also known as the "Turks" (Türkler) are defined mainly as citizens of the Republic of Turkey but also refers to the sizeable Turkish minorities who are still present in the former lands of the Ottoman Empire (mainly in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece, Iraq, Kosovo, Macedonia, Romania and Syria) as well as the cultures. The history of the Mediterranean region The history of the Mediterranean region is the history of the interaction of the cultures and people of the lands surrounding the Mediterranean Sea —the central superhighway of transport, trade and cultural exchange between diverse peoples. Its history is important to understanding the origin and development of the Mesopotamian, Egyptian, is crucial to understanding the origins and development of many modern societies. "For the three quarters of the globe, the Mediterranean Sea is similarly the uniting element and the centre of World History World History, Global History or Transnational history is a field of historical study that emerged as a distinct academic field in the 1980s. It examines history from a global perspective."[3]
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Name
The term Mediterranean derives from the Latin Latin or sometimes Roman is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Although often considered a dead language, in view of the fact that it has no native speakers, a small number of scholars can fluently speak it and it continues to be taught in schools and universities and has been, and currently is, used in the process of word mediterraneus, meaning "in the middle of earth" or "between lands" (medius, "middle, between" + terra, "land, earth"). This is on account of the sea's intermediary position between the continents of Africa and Europe. The Greek Greek , an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, is the language of the Greeks. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. In its ancient form, it is the language of classical ancient Greek literature and the New Testament of name Mesogeios (Μεσόγειος), is similarly from μέσο, "middle" + γη, "land, earth").[4]
The Mediterranean Sea has been known by a number of alternative names throughout human history. For example the Romans commonly called it Mare Nostrum Mare Nostrum was a Roman name for the Mediterranean Sea. In the years following the unification of Italy in 1861, the term was revived by Italian nationalists who believed that Italy was the successor state to the Roman Empire, and should seek to control ex-Roman territories in the Mediterranean (Latin, "Our Sea"). Occasionally it was known as Mare Internum by (Sallust Gaius Sallustius Crispus, generally known simply as Sallust, , a Roman historian, belonged to a well-known plebeian family, and was born at Amiternum in the country of the Sabines. Throughout his career Sallust always stood by his principle as a popularis, an opposer of Pompey's party and the old aristocracy of Rome, Jug. 17).
In the Bible The Bible refers to collections of sacred scripture of Judaism and Christianity. There is no single version: both the individual books and their order vary. The Hebrew Bible contains 24 books that were rearranged into 39 by Christian denominations, while complete Christian Bibles range from the 66 books of the Protestant canon to 81 books in the, it was primarily known as the "Great Sea" (Num. The Book of Numbers or Bəmidbar (Hebrew: במדבר, literally "In the desert [of]") is the fourth book of the Hebrew Bible, and the fourth of five books of the Jewish Torah/Pentateuch. This book may be divided into three parts: 34:6,7; Josh. The Book of Joshua is the sixth book in the Hebrew Bible. This book stands as the first in the Former (or First) Prophets covering the history of Israel from the possession of the Promised Land to the Babylonian Captivity. The book of Joshua contains a history of the Israelites from the death of Moses to that of Joshua. After Moses' death, Joshua, 1:4, 9:1, 15:47; Ezek. The Book of Ezekiel is a book of the Hebrew Bible, and also recognized as divinely inspired by most denominations of Christianity. The book derives its name from the prophet Ezekiel, a prophet from the sixth-century BC. This book records Ezekiel's preaching. His name (Hb. Yekhezqe’l) means "God strengthens" or "May God strengthen& 47:10,15,20), or simply "The Sea" (1 Kings The Books of Kings are books included in the Hebrew Bible. They were originally written in Hebrew and are recognised as scripture by Judaism and Christianity (as part of the Old Testament). According to Biblical chronology, the events in the Books of Kings occurred between the 10th and 6th centuries BC 5:9; comp. 1 Macc. The first book of Maccabees is a book written in Hebrew by a Jewish author after the restoration of an independent Jewish kingdom, about the latter part of the second century B.C.E. The original Hebrew is lost and the most important surviving version is the Greek translation contained in the Septuagint. The book is held as canonical scripture by 14:34, 15:11); however, it has also been called the "Hinder Sea", due to its location on the west coast of the Holy Land The Holy Land , generally refers to the geographical region of the Levant called Land of Canaan or Land of Israel in the Bible, and constitutes the Promised land. The Holy Land has significant religious importance for Judaism, Christianity, Islam and the Bahá'í Faith. Part of its sanctity stems from the religious significance of Jerusalem, the, and therefore behind a person facing the east, as referenced in the Old Testament The Old Testament is the collection of books that forms the first of the two-part Christian Biblical canon. The contents of the Old Testament canon vary from church to church, with the Orthodox communion having 51 books: the shared books are those of the shortest canon, that of the major Protestant communions, with 39 books, sometimes translated as "Western Sea", (Deut. Deuteronomy or Devarim (Hebrew: דְּבָרִים, literally "things" or "words") is the fifth book of the Hebrew Bible, and the fifth of five books of the Jewish Torah/Pentateuch 11:24; Joel The Book of Joel is part of the Hebrew Bible. Joel is part of a group of twelve prophetic books known as the Minor Prophets or simply as The Twelve; the distinction 'minor' indicates the short length of the text in relation to the larger prophetic texts known as the "Major Prophets" 2:20). Another name was the "Sea of the Philistines The Philistines (see "other uses" below) were a people who occupied the southern coast of Canaan, their territory being named Philistia in later contexts. It is theorized that the latter Philistines originated among the "sea peoples"" (Exod. Exodus or Shemot (Hebrew: שמות, literally "names") is the second book of the Hebrew Bible, and the second of five books of the Torah/Pentateuch 23:31), from the people occupying a large portion of its shores near the Israelites The term "Israelites" means both a people, the descendants of the patriarch Jacob/Israel, and those who worship the god of the people Israel, regardless of ethnic origin. In the biblical history an Israelite can be: (a) a descendant of the patriarch Jacob; (b) a member of the holy and inclusive community of those who follow the God of.
In Modern Hebrew Extinct as a regularly spoken language by the 4th century CE, but survived as a liturgical and literary language; revived in the 1880s, it has been called Hayam Hatikhon (הַיָּם הַתִּיכוֹן), "the middle sea", a literal adaptation of the German equivalent Mittelmeer. In Turkish Turkish (Türkçe IPA [ˈt̪yɾktʃe] ) is spoken as a first language by over 77 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Cyprus, with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo, Albania and other parts of Eastern, it is known as Akdeniz, "the white sea". In modern Arabic, it is known as al-Baḥr al-Abyaḍ al-Mutawassiṭ (البحر الأبيض المتوسط), "the White Middle Sea," while in Islamic and older Arabic literature, it was referenced as Baḥr al-Rūm (بحر الروم), or "the Roman/Byzantine Sea."
History
Main article: History of the Mediterranean regionAs a sea around which some of the most ancient human civilizations were arranged, it has had a major influence on the history and ways of life of these cultures. It provided a way of trade, colonization and war, and was the basis of life (via fishing and the gathering of other seafood) for numerous communities throughout the ages.
The combination of similarly shared climate, geology and access to a common sea has led to numerous historical and cultural connections between the ancient and modern societies around the Mediterranean.
Geography
A satellite image taken from the side of the Strait of Gibraltar. At left, Europe: at right, Africa. Dardananelles, North side is Gelibolu Peninsula-Europe, South side is AsiaThe Mediterranean Sea is connected to the Atlantic Ocean by the Strait of Gibraltar on the west and to the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea, by the Dardanelles and the Bosporus respectively, on the east. The Sea of Marmara is often considered a part of the Mediterranean Sea, whereas the Black Sea is generally not. The 163 km (101 mi) long man-made Suez Canal in the southeast connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea.
Large islands in the Mediterranean include Cyprus, Crete, Euboea, Rhodes, Lesbos, Chios, Kefalonia, Corfu, Naxos and Andros in the eastern Mediterranean; Sardinia, Corsica, Sicily, Cres, Krk, Brač, Hvar, Pag, Korčula and Malta in the central Mediterranean; and Ibiza, Majorca and Minorca (the Balearic Islands) in the western Mediterranean.
The climate is a typical Mediterranean climate with hot, dry summers and mild, rainy winters. Crops of the region include olives, grapes, oranges, tangerines, and cork.
Extent
The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Mediterranean Sea as follows:[5]
The Mediterranean Sea is bounded by the coasts of Europe, Africa and Asia, from the Strait of Gibraltar on the West to the entrances to the Dardanelles and the Suez Canal on the East.
It is divided into two deep basins as follows:
Western Basin
On the West. A line joining the extremities of Cape Trafalgar (Spain) and Cape Spartel (Africa).
On the Northeast. The West Coast of Italy. In the Strait of Messina a line joining the North extreme of Cape Paci (15°42'E) with Cape Peloro, the East extreme of the Island of Sicily. The North Coast of Sicily.
On the East. A line joining Cape Lilibeo the Western point of Sicily (37°47′N 12°22′E / 37.783°N 12.367°E), through the Adventure Bank to Cape Bon (Tunisia).
Eastern Basin
On the West. The Northeastern and Eastern limits of the Western Basin.
On the Northeast. A line joining Kum Kale (26°11'E) and Cape Helles, the Western entrance to the Dardanelles.
On the Southeast. The entrance to the Suez Canal.
Oceanography
Predominant currents for JuneBeing nearly landlocked affects the Mediterranean Sea's properties; for instance, tides are very limited as a result of the narrow connection with the Atlantic Ocean. The Mediterranean is characterized and immediately recognized by its deep blue color.
Evaporation greatly exceeds precipitation and river runoff in the Mediterranean, a fact that is central to the water circulation within the basin.[6] Evaporation is especially high in its eastern half, causing the water level to decrease and salinity to increase eastward.[7] This pressure gradient pushes relatively cool, low-salinity water from the Atlantic across the basin; it warms and becomes saltier as it travels east, then sinks in the region of the Levant and circulates westward, to spill over the Strait of Gibraltar.[8] Thus, seawater flow is eastward in the Strait's surface waters, and westward below; once in the Atlantic, this chemically distinct "Mediterranean Intermediate Water" can persist thousands of kilometers away from its source.[9]
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Wed, 01 Sep 2010 08:35:11 GMT+00:00
jellyfish watch programme Times of Malta The programme is currently implemented in coastal sectors in various Mediterranean waters. Conservation biologist Adriana Vella, who is the focal point of ...
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Vol 8 No 1 1985 pp 7 15 The 1950 Modern Mechanix ran an article about Soergel s plan Thanks to Jim Bell of kuhf fm for calling my attention to Soergel s plan The Mediterranean Sea Both images courtesy of Google Earth One dam would be placed at the Strait of Gibraltar in the upper left one across the Bosporus in the lower right
Mon, 19 Apr 2010 03:40:25 PDT
Six million years ago the continents of Africa and Europe collided to close the Strait of Gibralter. Starved of water, the Mediterranean Sea ... youtube.com.
Atilla Demiray
ue, 24 Aug 2010 17:44:00 GM
Missing shark-liver in . Mediterranean. . We left Greece last Friday for Cyprus which is our last resort before we head to New York. My last trade this summer was SP long from 1010 to 1070 which was a nice closure to start a lovely vacation ...
