Messinian 2664989 208995542 2008-04-29T14:01:52Z Geologyguy 883056 self revert, age is correct for the time period [[WP:UNDO|Undid]] revision 208994988 by [[Special:Contributions/Geologyguy|Geologyguy]] ([[User talk:Geologyguy|talk]]) [[Image:Messinian palaeogeography.svg|thumb|A possible palaeogeographical reconstruction of the Miocene Mediterranean. North to the left. *Red = current coastline *S = Sorbas basin, Spain *R = Rifean corridor *B = Betic corridor *G = Strait of Gibraltar *M = Mediterranean sea]] '''Messinian''' is the last [[age]] of the [[Miocene]] [[epoch (geology)|epoch]]. It spans the time between 7.246 ± 0.005 [[annum|Ma]] and 5.332 ± 0.005 Ma (million years ago). It is named after the [[Messinian evaporite]] deposit, which was named after [[Messina]] in [[Sicily]]. The Messinian stage saw the start, at around 6 million years ago, of the [[Messinian salinity crisis]], which brought about repeated desiccations of the [[Mediterranean Sea]] basin over the ensuing few million years. == See also == * [[List of fossil sites]] ''(with link directory)'' == References == *[http://www.stratigraphy.org/geowhen/stages/Messinian.html GeoWhen Database - Messinian] *[http://www.messinianonline.it Messinian online - living in an evaporitic world - Mediterranean area] {{Neogene Footer}} [[Category:Miocene]] {{geochronology-stub}} [[ast:Mesinianu]] [[ca:Messinià]] [[de:Messinium]] [[es:Mesiniense]] [[fr:Messinien]] [[it:Messiniano]] [[nl:Messinien]] [[ja:メッシニアン]] [[pl:Messyn]] [[pt:Messiniano]] [[sh:Messinij]] [[uk:Мессінський ярус]]