Paratethys: The largest lake the Earth has ever seen

For the first time ever, research led by one of Utrecht University's earth scientists—Dr. Dan Palcu—has earned a place in the Guinness Book of World Records. His fascinating research shows the immense proportions of the ...

Dr. Dan Palcu and the Paleomagnetic Laboratory Fort Hoofddijk of the Department of Earth Sciences played an essential role in determining the exact dimensions of Lake Paratethys. Utrecht's researchers employed a technique called magnetostratigraphy whereby the reversals of the earth's magnetic field are used to date sediment layers from the distant past in order to determine the size and volume of Paratethys. Their contributions were thereby essential to this fascinating story led by Palcu. Unique endemic fauna

Around 11 million years ago, the European continent looked very different from today. The most impressive feature was probably the Paratethys—a water body stretching all the way from the Alps to Central Asia. This mega lake was formed by raising central Europe's mountain ranges , separating the ancient Paratethys Sea from the ocean and forming mega lake Paratethys, the largest lake ever. Palcu and his colleagues determined the mega lake's proportions in a study published in June 2021. At its peak, Paratethys stretched over an area of around 2.8 million square kilometers, filled with more than 1.8 million cubic kilometers of brackish water. This is more than ten times the volume of all current salt- and freshwater lakes combined. Paratethys was characterized by a unique endemic fauna, including Cetotherium riabinini—the smallest whale ever found in fossil records.

The megalake holds the Guinness World Record for the largest known lake on Earth. It extended over an immense area of 2.8 million square kilometers, eclipsing even the vastness of the modern Mediterranean Sea. Within its confines, it harbored a remarkable reservoir of about 1.77 million cubic kilometers of water, a quantity exceeding the combined volume of all presently existing freshwater and saltwater lakes by more than tenfold. Credit: Utrecht University Read more

Rocks formed during the megalake crises have become cliffs overlooking the Black Sea, one of the few remains of the ancient megalake. Cape Kaliakra, Bulgaria. Credit: Utrecht University Read more

Around 11 million years ago the European continent looked very different from today. The most impressive feature was probably the Paratethys—a water body stretching all the way from the Alps to Central Asia. Credit: Utrecht University Read more

Water volume comparison between the megalake and other waterbodies (lakes and ice-sheets). Credit: Utrecht University Read more

Cetotherium riabinini – the smallest whale ever found in fossil records. Credit: Utrecht University Read more

Deinotherium giganteum , an ancient elephant dwarfing its modern counterparts, flourished in the megalake's surrounding swamps and lowlands. Credit: Utrecht University Read more