The Pannonian Sea was a shallow ancient

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

, where the Pannonian Basin in

Central Europe Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the a ...

is now. The Pannonian Sea existed from about 10 Ma (million years ago) until 1 Ma, during the

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

and

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58Paratethys Sea, until about 10 million years ago, when a Miocene uplift of the Carpathian Mountains isolated the sea from the rest of Paratethys. During its first historical phase, the Pannonian Sea had a western connection with the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...

through the territories of the modern Ligurian Sea,

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

, and

Vienna Basin The Vienna Basin (german: Wiener Becken, cz, Vídeňská pánev, sk, Viedenská kotlina, Hungarian: ''Bécsi-medence'') is a geologically young tectonic burial basin and sedimentary basin in the seam area between the Alps, the Carpathians and t ...

. Through the Đerdap Strait, the Pannonian Sea was linked to the Paratethys in the

Wallachia Wallachia or Walachia (; ro, Țara Românească, lit=The Romanian Land' or 'The Romanian Country, ; archaic: ', Romanian Cyrillic alphabet: ) is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and s ...

Pontic Pontic, from the Greek ''pontos'' (, ), or "sea", may refer to: The Black Sea Places * The Pontic colonies, on its northern shores * Pontus (region), a region on its southern shores * The Pontic–Caspian steppe, steppelands stretching from no ...

Basin. The Pannonian Sea was also attached to the

Aegean Sea The Aegean Sea ; tr, Ege Denizi (Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος: "Egéo Pélagos", Turkish: "Ege Denizi" or "Adalar Denizi") is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It is located between the Balkans ...

through the modern

Preševo Valley The Preševo Valley ( sr-cyrl, Прешевска долина, Preševska dolina, al, Lugina e Preshevës) is a geopolitical region in southern Serbia, along the border with Kosovo. The valley geographically includes municipalities of Bujanovac ...

. The Pannonian Sea existed for about 9 million years. Throughout its diverse history the salinity of the sea often shifted. The decrease of salinity resulted in endemic fauna. Eventually, the sea lost its connection to the Paratethys and became a lake permanently (''Pannonian Lake''). Its last remnant, the Slavonian Lake, dried up in the

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was finally confirmed in ...

epoch. The remnants of the former islands of the Pannonian Sea are the modern

Pannonian island mountains The Pannonian island mountains ( sr, / , hr, Panonske otočne planine) is a term for isolated mountains scattered across the Pannonian Plain, chiefly its western and southern parts, in Hungary, Serbia and Croatia. In prehistoric times, these mo ...

( Mecsek, Papuk,

Psunj Psunj is a mountain in the southwestern Slavonia region in eastern Croatia. It is the highest mountain of Slavonia, with the highest peak of Brezovo polje at 984 m.a.s.l. In the north it extends to Ravna gora and Papuk, while otherwise it is su ...

, Krndija, Dilj,

Fruška Gora Fruška gora ( sr-Cyrl, Фрушка гора; hu, Tarcal-hegység) is a mountain in Syrmia, administratively part of Serbia with a part of its western side extending into eastern Croatia. The area under Serbian administration forms the country ...

, and

Vršac Mountains The Vršac Mountains ( sr, Вршачке планине / ''Vršačke planine'', ro, Munții Vârșeț), also known as Vršac Hill ( sr, Вршачки брег / ''Vršački breg'', ro, Dealurile Vârșețului), are located in the Banat regio ...

). Despite their location,

Lake Balaton Lake Balaton () is a freshwater lake in the Transdanubian region of Hungary. It is the largest lake in Central Europe, and one of the region's foremost tourist destinations. The Zala River provides the largest inflow of water to the lake, and ...

and

Lake Neusiedl Lake Neusiedl (german: Neusiedler See), or Fertő ( hu, Fertő (tó); hr, Nežidersko jezero, Niuzaljsko jezero; sl, Nežidersko jezero; sk, Neziderské jazero; cs, Neziderské jezero) is the largest endorheic lake in Central Europe, strad ...

, which appeared during the last 20,000 years, have no relation to the ancient sea.

References

External links

{{Commons category, Pannonian Sea
Map of the Pannonian Sea
(in Hungarian)
Map of the Pannonian Sea - reconstructed and in high-resolution
(in English) Ancient Croatia Historical oceans History of Transylvania Miocene Europe Natural history of Europe Neogene paleogeography Pannonian Plain Pliocene Europe Prehistoric Europe Prehistoric Hungary Prehistoric Serbia Prehistory of Vojvodina Paleontology in Serbia cs:Paratethys

See also

References

External links