Fig. 2: Maps illustrating how the Messinian erosional surface (MES ~ base Pliocene) is restored to its original vertical position. | Communications Earth & Environment

Fig. 2: Maps illustrating how the Messinian erosional surface (MES ~ base Pliocene) is restored to its original vertical position.

From: Limited Mediterranean sea-level drop during the Messinian salinity crisis inferred from the buried Nile canyon

Fig. 2

a Thickness of rocks covering the base Pliocene surface. b Calculated subsidence due to compaction of pre-Pliocene sediments assuming shale lithology (for other lithologies see Supplementary Fig. S1). c Calculated flexural deflection due to unloading of post-Messinian rocks, using elastic thickness, Te = 30 km (for other Te values see Supplementary Fig. S2). d Calculated flexural deflection due to unloading of a 650-m-thick water layer (Te = 30 km, for other values of water thickness and Te see Supplementary Fig. S3). e Observed base Pliocene structural map50 (modified). f Restored base Pliocene surface after correcting for compaction (shale) and deflection (Te = 30 km) due to sediment unloading. No correction for water unloading has been applied here.

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