Editing Tethys Ocean (section)

===Cenozoic===
[[File:Dire Straits FIG 01.jpg|thumb|Vast regions of Europe and west-central Asia were still covered by a contiguous Tethys at the start of the [[Eocene]] (top image), but by the Oligocene, most of this had dried out (bottom image), and the Tethys was almost entirely divided into the Indian Ocean, Mediterranean and Paratethys.]]
Throughout the [[Cenozoic]] (66 million to the dawn of the Neogene, 23&nbsp;Mya), the connections between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans across the Tethys were eventually closed off in what is now the Middle East during the [[Miocene]], as a consequence of the northern migration of Africa/Arabia and global sea levels falling due to the concurrent formation of the [[Antarctic ice sheet|Antarctic Ice Sheet]]. This decoupling occurred in two steps, first around 20 Mya and another around 14&nbsp;Mya.<ref name=":1" /> The complete closure of the Tethys led to a global reorganization of currents, and is what is thought to have allowed for [[upwelling]] in the [[Arabian Sea]] and led to the establishment of the modern [[Monsoon of South Asia|South Asian Monsoon]]. It also caused major modifications to the functioning of the [[Atlantic meridional overturning circulation|AMOC]] and [[Antarctic Circumpolar Current|ACC]].<ref name=":1" />

During the [[Oligocene]] (33.9 to 23  Mya), large parts of central and eastern Europe were covered by a northern branch of the Tethys Ocean, called the [[Paratethys]]. The Paratethys was separated from the Tethys with the formation of the Alps, [[Carpathians]], [[Dinarides]], [[Taurus Mountains|Taurus]], and [[Elburz]] mountains during the [[Alpine orogeny]]. During the late [[Miocene]], the Paratethys gradually disappeared, and became an isolated inland sea.<ref>{{cite journal 
 |last1=Steininger |first1=F.F.
 |last2=Wessely|first2=G.
 |title= From the Tethyan Ocean to the Paratethys Sea: Oligocene to Neogene stratigraphy, paleogeography and paleobiogeography of the circum-Mediterranean region and the Oligocene to Neogene Basin evolution in Austria
 |year = 2000|journal=Mitteilungen der Österreichischen Geologischen Gesellschaft |volume=92|pages=95–116}}</ref> Separation from the wider Tethys during the early Miocene initially led to a boost in [[Primary production|primary productivity]] for the Paratethys, but this gave way to a total ecosystem collapse during the late Miocene as a result of rapid dissolution of [[carbonate]].<ref name=":2" />