The Black Sea Flood
The Black Sea deluge is a well-known and highly debated event in the Late Quaternary history of the region. It is one of three proposed flood scenarios for the Black Sea, with two other hypotheses suggesting a rapid or gradual rise in sea level. The deluge hypothesis, first introduced by William Ryan, Walter Pitman, Petko Dimitrov, and their colleagues in 1997, suggests that around 7600 years ago (c. 5600 BC), there was a catastrophic inflow of Mediterranean seawater into the freshwater lake of the Black Sea. According to this theory, during the Early Holocene period, glaciers were melting rapidly all over the world due to rising global temperatures. This caused an increase in sea levels globally and led to changes in hydrology patterns. As a result, some rivers draining into the Black Sea started declining in volume and changing course towards the North Sea. Additionally, evaporation also played a role in lowering water levels. As these changes occurred gradually over time, it event
