Why mediterranean sea so blue

It is almost closed from the Atlantic Ocean, and there is three times more evaporation than there is rain or freshwater flowing into it from rivers. Additionally, because of the high temperatures in the Mediterranean region, evaporation in the Mediterranean Sea occurs much more rapidly than in other bodies of water, leaving more salt behind as fresh water molecules rise from it and enter the atmosphere.

The warm, dense, salty water of the Mediterranean is replaced by the much less salty Atlantic water that flows in through the Strait of Gibraltar. Water that enters the Mediterranean from the Atlantic usually remains in the Sea for anywhere from 80 to years before returning to the Atlantic Ocean, according to researchers.

The Mediterranean loses three times more fresh water from evaporation than it takes in from its many tributaries — even including gigantic rivers such as the Nile , and the somewhat smaller Po, Rhone, Ebros, Tiber, Ceyhan, Seyhan, Adige, Neretva, and Drin-Bojana rivers. Scientists have discovered that the salt and sediments at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea prove that on several occasions over the course of history, the Mediterranean Sea has indeed dried up, leaving a large layer of salt behind it.

At that time the Strait of Gibraltar itself closed up, stopping any water from flowing back and forth between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean. During what researchers call the Messinian Salinity Crisis, a geological event occurring from 5. This enabled the migration of mammals , including camels, into Europe.

The basin then filled up again with water from the Atlantic during what is called the Zanclean Flood. As can be seen from the NASA satellite image above, the Mediterranean is still clearly among the saltiest bodies of water anywhere on the planet.

The data depicted shows average salinity from May 27 to June 2, , in a range from 30 to 40 grams per kilogram, with 35 grams being the average. Lower values are represented in purples and blues; higher values are shown in shades of orange and red. Black areas occur where no data was available, either due to the orbit of the satellite or because the ocean was covered by ice, which Aquarius cannot see through.

NASA created an animation, clickable here, of how salinity patterns changed week by week in all the major bodies of water on the Earth, including the Mediterranean, over the year Rivers such as the Amazon carry tremendous amounts of fresh runoff from land and spread plumes far into the sea.

Near most coastlines and inland seas in the map, waters appear much fresher or saltier than in open-ocean locations.

Generally, of the seven colours of sunlight, blue is scattered most. That is why most oceans appear blue. However, in the case of the Atlantic Ocean, the decaying plants on the ocean bed produce a green effect.

When these plants decay, yellow pigments are released which get dissolved in the water. This water now scatters both blue and yellow light and the resulting mixture produces the characteristic greenish shade. Filed under: 5ws and h Tags: oceans , atlantic , america , africa , europe , mediterranean , pacific , sunlight. Response by poster: So mkdirusername, thanks for the clear link to an answer pun not intended, but nevertheless totally intended, otherwise I'd not write what I just wrote within these parentheses, and now due to overexplaining, this is now just annoying, pathetic, and sad.

Sounds like Phytoplankton are bastards that make beauty murky, but also a hallmark of a thriving ecosystem of a sea, which in it's own way, putting aside our vain human need for nature to perform for us like a jester, is even more beautiful overall.

An ex-Navy guy explained to me that when making landfall on the European side of the Mediterranean, the first thing you see is mountain tops. That's very different from the east coast of the USA where I live. Here you have to get close enough to see the beach, more or less. What gp88 said about plankton agrees with what I've heard about the clear water in some parts of the Caribbean: it's a biological desert.

It's not landlocked, btw. The Strait of Gibraltar connects it to the oceans. It is mostly enclosed. If this reasoning were true, the Black Sea would be even more beautiful than the Mediterranean, and would actually be a major contributing factor to the beauty of the Mediterranean because its only, very small, outlet is through the Bosporus to the Mediterranean. The Red Sea wouldn't be too far off. Then you have endorheic basins like the Dead Sea, the Salton Sea, and the Caspian Sea that have no outlet at all - are any of those particularly pretty?

Fine grains in strong currents get stirred up and make the water murkier. Brown sand looks murkier than very pale sand, and pale sand can give water a turquoise hue when sun is shining on water shallow enough for the sea bed to be visible.

You get it on the beach at Tel Aviv. I've never noticed that the water on that beach looks bluer than elsewhere, though. The most brilliant blue seas I've seen are, hands down, in the Caribbean. I think a better explanation is just that the photos you're seeing are taken of famously beautiful shorelines in calm weather, so the water looks clear and glassy. Most of the Mediterranean coast is very calm weatherwise relative to stormier parts of the world.