Palaeogeographical reorganization of the Tethys–Paratethys region during the Paleogene, from a connected Tethys configuration during the early Eocene (above) to a fragmented and restricted Paratethys region configuration during the Oligocene (below). Note the loss of deep-water connections between the Indian Ocean region and the Mediterranean, the complete loss of Indian–Arctic Ocean connections, and the closure of most of the Eocene seaways in the Oligocene time.[1]Megafaunal diversity of the Paratethys megalake included cetaceans and pinnipeds most notably the Cetotherium riabinini went thorough a presumed insular dwarfism.
The Paratethys sea, Paratethys ocean, Paratethys realm or just Paratethys was a large shallow inland sea that stretched from the region north of the Alps over Central Europe to the Aral Sea in Central Asia.
Paratethys was peculiar due to its paleogeography: it consisted of a series of deep basins, formed during the Oxfordian stage of the Late Jurassic as an extension of the rift that formed the Central Atlantic Ocean. These basins were connected with each other and the global ocean by narrow and shallow seaways that often limited water exchange and caused widespread long-term anoxia.[1]
Paratethys was at times reconnected with the Tethys or its successors (the Mediterranean Sea or the Indian Ocean) during the Oligocene and the early and middle Miocene times, but at the onset of the late Miocene epoch, the tectonically trapped sea turned into a megalake from the eastern Alps to what is now Kazakhstan.[2] From the Pliocene epoch onward (after 5 million years ago), Paratethys became progressively shallower. Today's Black Sea, Caspian Sea, Aral Sea, Lake Urmia, Namak Lake and others are remnants of the Paratethys Sea.
Paratethys formed about 34 Mya (million years ago) at the beginning of the Oligocene epoch,[3] when the northern region of the Tethys Ocean (Peri-Tethys) was separated from the Mediterranean region of the Tethys realm due to the formation of the Alps, Carpathians, Dinarides, Taurus and Elburz mountains.
During the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, this part of Eurasia was covered by shallow seas that formed the northern margins of the Tethys Ocean. However, because Anatolia, the southern boundary of the Paleo-Tethys Ocean, is a part of the original continent of Cimmeria, the last remnant of the Paleo-Tethys might be oceanic crust under the Black Sea. The Tethys Ocean formed between Laurasia (Eurasia and North America) and Gondwana (Africa, India, Antarctica, Australia and South America) when the supercontinent Pangaea broke up during the Triassic (200 million years ago).
^ abPalcu, D.V.; Krijgsman, W. (2023). "The dire straits of Paratethys: gateways to the anoxic giant of Eurasia". Geological Society, London, Special Publications. 523 (1): 111–139. Bibcode:2023GSLSP.523...73P. doi:10.1144/SP523-2021-73. S2CID 245054442.
^Cite error: The named reference perkins2021 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Stampfli, Gérard. "155 Ma - Late Oxfordian (an. M25)" (PDF). University of Lausanne. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-01-13.
The Paratethys sea, Paratethys ocean, Paratethys realm or just Paratethys was a large shallow inland sea that stretched from the region north of the Alps...
covered by a northern branch of the Tethys Ocean, called the Paratethys. The Paratethys was separated from the Tethys with the formation of the Alps,...
the Paratethys Sea, until about 10 million years ago, when a Miocene uplift of the Carpathian Mountains isolated the sea from the rest of Paratethys. During...
Central Paratethys, cut off from sources of freshwater input by its separation from the Eastern Paratethys. From 13.36 to 12.65 Ma, the Central Paratethys was...
million years ago during the Eocene epoch of the Paleogene Period, in the Paratethys Sea, within the northern Sahara, where Egypt and Algeria are now located...
extinct genus of earless seals from the middle-late Miocene of the eastern Paratethys basin and the North Sea. There are two recognized species of Pontophoca...
traditional foods Romanian folklore Romanian (stage), a stage in the Paratethys stratigraphy of Central and Eastern Europe The Romanian newspaper The...
22 million years ago. It is thought that they probably evolved in the Paratethys Sea. In the Nobel Prize-winning author Ernest Hemingway's 1952 novel The...
killifish (Aphanius and Aphanolebias) in locales of the Mediterranean and Paratethys areas revealed climatological influences during the Miocene Further development...
"Morphology and systematics of Miocene Phocinae (Mammalia: Carnivora) from Paratethys and the North Atlantic region". Geologica Hungarica Series Palaeontologica...
Ortwin; Kriwet, Jürgen (2019-06-03). "A new Miocene skate from the Central Paratethys (Upper Austria): the first unambiguous skeletal record for the Rajiformes...
of 790 metres (2,590 ft) above sea level. The lake is a remnant of the Paratethys sea, which started to dry up from the Pleistocene epoch, leaving Lake...
discoveries have been made in the Eastern Black Sea. During the Eocene, the Paratethys Sea was partially isolated and sea levels fell. During this time sand...
its South Caspian Basin, like the Black Sea, a remnant of the ancient Paratethys Sea. Its seafloor is, therefore, a standard oceanic basalt and not a continental...
shallow seas, such as the sea above the Paris Basin to the south-west, the Paratethys Sea to the south-east, or the Tethys Ocean to the south. During the Late...
in what is today Romania, at the time when the country was part of the Paratethys sea. Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2012). Species of Gonostoma...
water chondrichthyans from the Early Miocene of the Vienna Basin (Central Paratethys, Slovakia)". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 58 (3): 487–509. doi:10.4202/app...
earless seals from Neogene marine deposits in the northern part of the Paratethys basin. There are two recognized species of Pachyphoca, P. ukrainica and...
Andre Pharisat & Norbert Micklich (1998) Oligocene fishes in the western Paratethys of the Rhine Valley Rift System, Italian Journal of Zoology, 65:S1, 163-168...
8–4.0 Ma), Chapadmalalan (4.0–3.0 Ma) and Uquian (3.0–1.2 Ma). In the Paratethys area (central Europe and parts of western Asia) the Pliocene contains...
Fossils of this marine species were found in Miocene strata in the former Paratethys Sea MolluscaBase eds. (2023). MolluscaBase. Vexillum harmati Csepreghy-Meznerics...
Kechil or Pontian Town Pontian stage (Pontian age), the uppermost Miocene Paratethys stage, coeval with the Messinian Ponciano (disambiguation) Pons (disambiguation)...
Pałdyna, M. (2024). "A new clupeoid genus from the Oligocene of Central Paratethys (Menilite Formation, Poland)". Acta Geologica Polonica. 74 (1). e5. doi:10...
drives convergent bone mass increases in Miocene marine mammals from the Paratethys". Current Biology. 32 (1): 248–255.e2. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2021.10.065....
miters. Fossils of this marine species were found in Miocene strata of the Paratethys Sea; in Pliocene strata in the Alpes-Maritimes, France. MolluscaBase eds...
the nutmeg snails. Fossils have been found in Middle Miocene strata in Paratethys Sea. MolluscaBase eds. (2024). MolluscaBase. Admetula serrata (Bronn,...
of Central Europe covered by a large, shallow inland sea known as the Paratethys. G. moldavica would have been a contemporary with various seabird and...
Ashgabat's soil is primarily sediment that accumulated on the bottom of the Paratethys Ocean. The Kopet Dag mountains emerged toward the end of the Cretaceous...
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