Refill of Oceanic Basins in Earth’s History

The refill of oceanic basin in the Earth’s recent history since the end of the Tertiary represent floods of a special magnitude. Such floods do not manifest themselves through a temporarily increased discharge, but as a rule represent a distinct event. Compared to the lake outbursts described before, the direction of flow is reversed due to the inflow into the basin instead of draining it. At the same time, the duration of the floods also changes, which is typically measured in years according to the size of the basin. Questions also arise not only about the cause of the flood when it fills, but also about how, when and why a previous emptying occurred in the first place.