Luxury Mediterranean Cruise
Some may want to take luxury cruises across the the famous Sea of the Mediterranean. Some may want to take a cruise on an ocean liner on the famous sea. Some may want to tour the coastline of Southern Europe, North Africa and the coast of the middle east. Some may want to tour the lakes and rivers that lead to the sea. Some may want to take a cruise on a large ocean liner in the sea. Some may want to take a luxury cruise with high quality facilities. Some may want to take a cruise in summer or winter or autumn or spring.
Cruises on the Mediterranean sea are often popular with tourists who want to cruise the famous sea on an ocean liner perhaps visiting the various towns and cities on the coast the seeing the sealife in the sea. Some may want to vacation on a large ocean liner or a smaller ship.
The Mediterranean Sea is connected to the Atlantic Ocean by the Strait of Gibraltar on the west and to the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea, by the Dardanelles and the Bosporus respectively, on the east. The Sea of Marmara is often considered a part of the Mediterranean Sea, whereas the Black Sea is generally not. The 163 km long man-made Suez Canal in the southeast connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea.
Large islands in the Mediterranean include Cyprus, Crete, Euboea, Rhodes, Lesbos, Chios, Kefalonia and Corfu in the eastern Mediterranean; Sardinia, Corsica, Sicily, and Malta in the central Mediterranean; and Ibiza, Majorca and Minorca (the Balearic Islands) in the western Mediterranean.
The climate is typical Mediterranean climate with hot, dry summers and mild, rainy winters. Crops of the region include olives, grapes, oranges, tangerines, and cork.
Being nearly landlocked affects the Mediterranean Sea's properties; for instance, tides are very limited as a result of the narrow connection with the Atlantic Ocean. The Mediterranean is characterized and immediately recognized by its deep blue color.
Evaporation greatly exceeds precipitation and river runoff in the Mediterranean, a fact that is central to the water circulation within the basin. Evaporation is especially high in its eastern half, causing the water level to decrease and salinity to increase eastward. This pressure gradient pushes relatively cool, low salinity water from the Atlantic across the basin; it warms and becomes saltier as it travels east, then sinks in the region of the Levant and circulates westward, to spill over the Strait of Gibraltar. Thus, seawater flow is eastward in the Strait's surface waters, and westward below; once in the Atlantic, this chemically-distinct Mediterranean Intermediate Water can persist thousands of kilometers away from its source.
Bordering countries
Map of the Mediterranean Sea.
Twenty-one modern states have a coastline on the Mediterranean Sea. They are:
Europe
(from west to east): Spain, France, Monaco, Italy, Malta, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia
and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, Greece and the European part of Turkey.
Asia (from north to south): Turkey, Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Israel and the Asian
part of Egypt.
Africa (from east to west): Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria
and Morocco.
Turkey sits mainly in Asia and partially in Europe. Egypt is mainly in Africa but its Sinai peninsula lies in Asia.
Several other territories also border the Mediterranean Sea (from west to east):
The British overseas
territory of Gibraltar
The Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla and nearby
islands
The British sovereign base area of Akrotiri and Dhekelia
The Palestinian
territories
Andorra, Jordan, Portugal, San Marino, Serbia and the Vatican City, although they do not border the sea, are often considered Mediterranean countries in a wider sense due to their Mediterranean climate, fauna and flora, and/or their cultural affinity with other Mediterranean countries.
Major cities bordering the Mediterranean Sea include Malaga, Valencia, Barcelona, Marseille, Nice, Venice, Genoa, Naples, Bari, Palermo, Messina, Split, Athens, Istanbul, Izmir, Antalya, Lattakia, Beirut, Tel Aviv, Port Said, Damietta, Alexandria, Benghazi, Tripoli, Tunis, and Algiers.
Subdivisions
the Ligurian Sea between
Corsica and Liguria (Italy),
the Adriatic Sea between Italy, Slovenia, Croatia,
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Albania
the Ionian Sea between Italy,
Greece, and Albania,
the Aegean Sea between Greece and Turkey
the Sea
of Marmara between the Aegean and Black Sea
Other Seas
the Catalan
Sea, between Iberian Peninsula and Balearic Islands, as a part of the Balearic
Sea
the Sea of Sardinia, between Sardinia and Balearic Islands, as a part
of the Balearic Sea
the Tyrrhenian Sea enclosed by Sardinia, Italian peninsula
and Sicily,
the Sea of Sicily between Sicily and Tunisia,
the Libyan Sea
between Libya and Crete,
In the Aegean Sea,
the Thracian Sea in its north,
the Myrtoan Sea between the Cyclades and the Peloponnese,
the Sea of Crete
north of Crete
the Cilician Sea between Turkey and Cyprus
Other features
Many of these smaller seas feature in local myth and folklore and derive their names from these associations. In addition to the seas, a number of gulfs and straits are also recognised:
the Saint George Bay in Beirut, Lebanon
the Strait
of Gibraltar, connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates
Spain from Morocco
the Bay of Gibraltar, at the southern end of the Iberian
Peninsula
the Gulf of Corinth, an enclosed sea between the Ionian Sea and
the Corinth Canal
the Saronic Gulf, the gulf of Athens, between the Corinth
Canal and the Mirtoan Sea
the Thermaic Gulf, the gulf of Thessaloniki, located
in the northern Greek region of Macedonia
the Kvarner Gulf, Croatia
the
Gulf of Lion, south of France
the Gulf of Valencia, east of Spain
the
Strait of Messina, between Sicily and the toe of Italy
the Gulf of Genoa,
northwestern Italy
the Gulf of Venice, northeastern Italy
the Gulf of
Trieste, northeastern Italy
the Gulf of Taranto, southern Italy
the Gulf
of Salerno, southwestern Italy
the Gulf of Gaeta, southwestern Italy
the
Gulf of Squillace, southern Italy
the Strait of Otranto, between Italy and
Albania
the Gulf of Haifa, between Haifa and Akko, Israel
the Gulf of
Sidra, between Tunisia and Cyrenaica (eastern Libya)
the Strait of Sicily,
between Sicily and Tunisia
the Corsica Channel, between Corsica and Italy
the Strait of Bonifacio, between Sardinia and Corsica
the Gulf of I.skenderun,
between I.skenderun and Adana (Turkey)
the Gulf of Antalya, between west and
east shores of Antalya (Turkey)
the Bay of Boka, Bay of Kotor, on the coast
of Montenegro
the Malta Channel, between Sicily and Malta
the Gozo Channel
between Malta and its sister island, Gozo
Eastern Mediterranean
In middle Miocene times, the collision between the Arabian microplate and Eurasia led to the separation between the Tethys and the Indian Oceans. This process determined profound changes in the oceanic circulation patterns, which shifted global climates towards colder conditions. The Hellenic Arc, which has a land-locked configuration, underwent a widespread extension for the last 20 Myr due to a slab roll-back process. In addition, the Hellenic Arc experienced a rapid rotation phase during the Pleistocene, with a counterclockwise component in its eastern portion and a clockwise trend in the western segment.
Central Mediterranean
The opening of small oceanic basins of the central Mediterranean follows a trench migration and back-arc opening process that occurred during the last 30 Myr. This phase was characterized by the counterclockwise rotation of the Corsica-Sardinia block, which lasted until the Langhian (ca.16 Ma), and was in turn followed by a slab detachment along the northern African margin. Subsequently, a shift of this active extentional deformation led to the opening of the Tyrrenian basin.
Western Mediterranean
Since Mesozoic to Tertiary times, during convergence between Africa and Iberia, it developed the Betic-Rif mountain belts. Tectonic models for its evolution include: rapid motion of Alboran microplate, subduction zone and radial extentional collapse caused by convective removal of lithosferic mantle. The development of these intramontane Betic and Rif basins led to the onset of two marine gateways which were progressively closed during the late Miocene by an interplay of tectonic and glacio-eustatic processes.
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Luxury Mediterranean Cruise
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