[1]   [2]   [3]   [4]   [5]   [6]   [7]   [8]   [9]

  
Graphic on the left is adapted from Duggen et al., 2003.
The figure at right is borrowed from this Nature article.

The African and Asian plates have collided, cutting off the Mediterranean from the Indian Ocean permanently. There are now only two corridors leading into the sea, known as the Betic and Rifian (or Rifean) corridors. The satellite image on the right has been manipulated to show what the two corridors would have looked like, based on marine sediment evidence.