Extended Data Fig. 5: Salinity profiles for wMed and eMed at the end of the Flooding Phase for different ME values.
From: Sill-controlled salinity contrasts followed post-Messinian flooding of the Mediterranean
For our main model, we use ME = 20% (0.2), which is the widely accepted value for shear-driven mixing in stratified fluids55,56. Here we test the effect of ME change on basin evolution, for the 10–30 % ME range. a, Salinity profiles (wMed) at the end of the Flooding Phase for different ME values. At 10% ME, a ~700-m-thick residual brine layer remains in the bottom of the wMed. The salinity profile above the pycnocline is enlarged in this case. For 20% and 30% ME, the wMed does not contain residual brine. b, Salinity profiles (eMed) at the end of the Flooding Phase for different ME values. For each ME value, strong stratification occurs at the Sicily Sill level, where dense fluids lie toward the bottom (salinity profile colours: blue-green = wMed mixed layer; orange = eMed mixed layer; purple = residual Messinian brines; during the final flood stage, mixing occurs only in the wMed, from which mixed waters overflow toward the eMed above Sicily Sill – indicated by an upper blue-green eMed layer).
