the Mediterranean
belonging to the Atlantic Ocean, this sea has been of great importance for the development of Western civilization, having served as a means of communication between Europe, Africa and the Near East. on their shores they developed the classic cultures, and the navigators that crossed it spread in their surroundings the knowledge reached by the diverse towns that populated them.
It covers an area of 2.9 million square kilometers and measures some 3,800km from one end to the other. the average depth is about 1,500m and reaches its lowest level in the Matapan Trench, east of Crete, at 5,121m.
the morphology of the bottom is very varied, with an elevated base that unites Sicily with Tunisia and part of Libya. in the western Mediterranean, the continental shelf is generally very narrow reaching depths of up to 4,300m near minor ca.
In the eastern Mediterranean there is a mountain range, the middle east ridge, which starts in Cyprus and ends in the Ionian Sea.
The climate of the Mediterranean region is generally warm, also due to the influence of the sea, whose waters reach 29 degrees Celsius in summer, in the Gulf of Iskenderun (Turkey). in summer the lowest values are measured at the mouth of the rolling and in winter, off the coast of Venice (7 degrees centered).
the salinity of the Mediterranean is higher in the eastern region with a maximum of 39% in the east sea, compared to the coasts of the middle east, and a minimum of 35% in the Adriatic.
the precipitations on this sea are not very abundant, reason why, if it were not for the hydric contribution of the rivers that in the emptiness and, mainly by the waters of superficial type coming from the Atlantic, its level would descend of constant way.
the regime of tides is little accused and given its reduced dimensions, the winds are not very intense, so the waves do not usually reach high values.
it is about sea with few nutrients. the absence of deep currents does not generate outcrop and prevents an abundant plankton development. this is due to the relative scarcity of its fauna, which, in addition, is threatened by the constant toxic spills and waste coming from the riparian countries.
I hope you like this first part of the subsidiary seas Friends Steems in my next post will be the continuation of it talking about the Baltic Sea and the Caribbean Sea happy to all good afternoon!
