What is Inland sea?
'''Inland seas''', also called '''epeiric''' or epicontinental seas, are shallow seas over part of a [[continent]]. They usually happen with marine transgressions, when the sea overtops the land. They are caused by either global high ('eustatic') [[sea level]] or the formation of large geologic [[basin (geology)|basins]] which eventually connect to the ocean. There have been, at some periods, shallow seas ''inside'' continents. Much of present-day [[North America]] was covered by an epicontinental sea called the [[Sundance Sea]] during the [[Jurassic]] period.<ref>Palaeos map http://www.palaeos.com/Mesozoic/Jurassic/MidJura.html#Geography {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070907040536/http://www.palaeos.com/Mesozoic/Jurassic/MidJura.html#Geography |date=2007-09-07 }}</ref> In the [[Cretaceous]] an even larger area was covered by the [[Western Interior Seaway]]. A modern example is the [[Baltic Sea]]. The [[North Sea]] is not an inland sea, but it does sit on [[continental shelf]], and so is epeiric (that is what the word means). The [[Hudson Bay]] is often considered an epeiric sea because its depth averages 100ft (30 m) whereas, for example, the [[Bay of Bengal]] is 2,600 metres (8000 ft) deep. So epeiric seas are on the [[continental plate]], as are inland seas. The inland seas, however, are more enclosed. == Examples == === Amazon basin === The [[Amazon basin]] originally emptied into the [[Pacific Ocean]] when [[South America]] and [[Africa]] were part of [[Gondwana]]. After the breakup of Gondwana, the Amazon found its exit blocked by the rise of the [[Andes]] about 15 million years ago (mya). A great inland sea developed, at times draining north through what is now [[Venezuela]] before finding its present eastward outlet into the South [[Atlantic]]. Gradually this inland sea became a vast freshwater lake and wetlands where sediment flattened its profiles and the marine inhabitants adapted to life in freshwater. Over 20 species of [[stingray]], most closely related to those found in the Paci