Mediterranean Sea million years ago (mya) in less than two years by the Zanclean flood. Water poured in from the Atlantic Ocean through a newly breached gateway now called the Strait of Gibraltar at an estimated rate of about three orders of magnitude (one thousand times) larger than the current flow of the Amazon River. The Mediterranean Sea has an average depth of and the deepest recorded point is in the Calypso Deep in the Ionian Sea. The coastline extends for . A shallow submarine ridge (the Strait of Sicily) between the island of Sicily and the coast of Tunisia divides the
Book of the Consulate of the Sea Book of the Consulate of the Sea The Book of the Consulate of the Sea or Book of the Consulate of Sea is a compendium of maritime law that governed trade in the Mediterranean for centuries. Of Catalan origin, it was translated into many languages and served as the basis for current international maritime law. When setting the first Consulate of the Sea in Valencia, king Peter III of Aragon decided to apply the maritime customs of Barcelona, called "costums de mar", which had not yet been codified, although there did already exist in Barcelona another compilation of maritime rules,