Zanclean Stage

Refilling of the Mediterranean Sea

The Zanclean Stage (5.33–3.60 Ma) is the first age in the Pliocene, occurring after the Messinian (Miocene), and before the Piacenzian.

Geologic Age

  • 5.333–3.60 million years ago

Eon / Era / Period / Epoch

What happened during this time?

  • Water from the Atlantic Ocean refilled the Mediterranean basin.

  • A channel opened from the Atlantic Ocean, through the modern-day Gibraltar Strait, and carried ocean water over a distance of over 200 km.

  • The Mediterranean Sea was filled over a period estimated between several months and two years.

  • Earliest records of Australopithecus africanus from 3.9 million years old.

Additional Resources