The Tethys and the Origins of the South West Asiatic Barrier
11
Caspian region was almost concomitantly obstructed according to Benson and
Sylvester-Bradley (1971) by the "Paratethys", the inland sea stocked with brackish
fauna. [The Paratethys was the first name for the semi-individualized northeastern
brackish satellite sea ofthe Mediterranean, which evolved into the present PontoCaspian, and it is not the correct name to describe the still tropical but already
isolated Mediterranean of the Miocene-Pliocene, as used by Klausewitz (1968)
and Tortonese (1969). The name "Palaeomediterranean" should be used instead
for the newly separated, but still tropical, Mediterranean, whether mid-Miocene
or Pliocene.]
Adams (1967) criticizes the statement of Ekman (1967) that a considerable
disorientation of the climate and the consequent dying out of tropical fauna had
already occurred in the Mediterranean during the Miocene. Analysis by Reiss and
Gvirtzman (1966a) ofthe Miocene Saqiye beds of Israel indicates a tropical reef
fauna in the late Middle Miocene (Tortonian) and especially the presence of the
tropical foraminiferan Barelis mela curdica (Reichei) (Reiss and Gvirtzman,
1966 b). From the data of these authors and from the chronology given by Reiss
(1968), it would seem that the tropical fauna in the eastern Mediterranean disappeared no earlier than seven million years aga with the start of the short Messinian period, considered as the Upper Miocene. Benson (in press, a) however,
considers that there was no climatic change during the Upper Miocene. On the
other hand, Benson (in press, b) assumes that a general lowering of the oceanic
level occurred in the Tortonian (± 8 million years aga) probably isolating in part
the Mediterranean from the Atlantic. Ruggieri (1967) was the first to suggest that
towards the end ofthe Miocene, the Palaeomediterranean lost its contact with the
Atlantic. The Mediterranean basin was transformed in aseries of brackish to
hypersaline lagoons and it seems likely to this author that the marine Miocene
fauna was totally destroyed (Fig. 3). This state, characterized by M elanapsis faunas
in the western Mediterranean, would be contemporaneous with the Messinian
(Upper Miocene) regression in the eastern Mediterranean (Reiss and Gvirtzman,
1966a). This would have to be considered primarily as a result of the northward
movement ofthe African block against Europe.
The start of the Pliocene coincides, according to Ruggieri (1967), with the
opening (or reopening) of the two straits between Atlantic and Mediterranean:
the Betic and Rif straits. The Mediterranean was repopulated with marine fauna
from the West African coast which was "probably the true asylum for the IndoPacific relicts during the salinity crisis of the Upper Miocene" (Ruggieri, 1967,
p. 286). If this theory is true, then there is no true Tethys relict in the Mediterranean. Several authors believe that some refugia of marine fauna might have
been in existence nonetheless. Benson (in press, b) considers that only very euryhaline species of the "Caspian" type could have survived. The latest data resulting
from the Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) in the Mediterranean indicate that by
the end of the Miocene there was a long period of repeated "saline crises" and
drying up of all of the Mediterranean. Nesteroff (1973 b) speaks of "periodic
drying ... and transformation in aseries of basins": These periods, during which
gypsum and evaporites accumulated, alternated with periods during which "these
basins became again true seas". This epoch of alternating flooding and drying out
is situated, according to Nesteroff, between 7.2 and 5.5 million years, in the
11
Caspian region was almost concomitantly obstructed according to Benson and
Sylvester-Bradley (1971) by the "Paratethys", the inland sea stocked with brackish
fauna. [The Paratethys was the first name for the semi-individualized northeastern
brackish satellite sea ofthe Mediterranean, which evolved into the present PontoCaspian, and it is not the correct name to describe the still tropical but already
isolated Mediterranean of the Miocene-Pliocene, as used by Klausewitz (1968)
and Tortonese (1969). The name "Palaeomediterranean" should be used instead
for the newly separated, but still tropical, Mediterranean, whether mid-Miocene
or Pliocene.]
Adams (1967) criticizes the statement of Ekman (1967) that a considerable
disorientation of the climate and the consequent dying out of tropical fauna had
already occurred in the Mediterranean during the Miocene. Analysis by Reiss and
Gvirtzman (1966a) ofthe Miocene Saqiye beds of Israel indicates a tropical reef
fauna in the late Middle Miocene (Tortonian) and especially the presence of the
tropical foraminiferan Barelis mela curdica (Reichei) (Reiss and Gvirtzman,
1966 b). From the data of these authors and from the chronology given by Reiss
(1968), it would seem that the tropical fauna in the eastern Mediterranean disappeared no earlier than seven million years aga with the start of the short Messinian period, considered as the Upper Miocene. Benson (in press, a) however,
considers that there was no climatic change during the Upper Miocene. On the
other hand, Benson (in press, b) assumes that a general lowering of the oceanic
level occurred in the Tortonian (± 8 million years aga) probably isolating in part
the Mediterranean from the Atlantic. Ruggieri (1967) was the first to suggest that
towards the end ofthe Miocene, the Palaeomediterranean lost its contact with the
Atlantic. The Mediterranean basin was transformed in aseries of brackish to
hypersaline lagoons and it seems likely to this author that the marine Miocene
fauna was totally destroyed (Fig. 3). This state, characterized by M elanapsis faunas
in the western Mediterranean, would be contemporaneous with the Messinian
(Upper Miocene) regression in the eastern Mediterranean (Reiss and Gvirtzman,
1966a). This would have to be considered primarily as a result of the northward
movement ofthe African block against Europe.
The start of the Pliocene coincides, according to Ruggieri (1967), with the
opening (or reopening) of the two straits between Atlantic and Mediterranean:
the Betic and Rif straits. The Mediterranean was repopulated with marine fauna
from the West African coast which was "probably the true asylum for the IndoPacific relicts during the salinity crisis of the Upper Miocene" (Ruggieri, 1967,
p. 286). If this theory is true, then there is no true Tethys relict in the Mediterranean. Several authors believe that some refugia of marine fauna might have
been in existence nonetheless. Benson (in press, b) considers that only very euryhaline species of the "Caspian" type could have survived. The latest data resulting
from the Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) in the Mediterranean indicate that by
the end of the Miocene there was a long period of repeated "saline crises" and
drying up of all of the Mediterranean. Nesteroff (1973 b) speaks of "periodic
drying ... and transformation in aseries of basins": These periods, during which
gypsum and evaporites accumulated, alternated with periods during which "these
basins became again true seas". This epoch of alternating flooding and drying out
is situated, according to Nesteroff, between 7.2 and 5.5 million years, in the