“…The Marmara Sea is forming as a pull-apart basin along the North Anatolian Fault (Armijo et al, 1999(Armijo et al, , 2002. Direct connection with the Indian Ocean is definitively closed and the question of the connection with the Red Sea might be discussed but the presence of Messinian evaporites in the Red Sea (Stoffers and Ross, 1974) suggests that the absolute sea level was very low and thus makes the possibility of a passage to the Mediterranean unlikely (Rouchy, 1986). Temporary connections with the Eastern Paratethys are proposed through the northern Aegean .…”