The movement of the tectonic plates will cause the continents of our planet to come together in about 200 or 250 million years.
Within 200 or 250 million years, our planet will look completely different from what it is today, as all the current continents come together in a new supercontinent. Researcher Matias Green (University of Bangor, United Kingdom) and Hannah Sofia Davies and Joey C. Duarte (University of Lisbon, Portugal) detail in an article for the Conversation which this process would be like.
From the beginning, experts explain that the tectonic plates that make up the ground's crust are in constant motion, moving at speeds of a few centimeters per year. That is, from time to time, in geological terms, the continents come together in a supercontinent, which remains together for a few hundred million years before diverting again.
The last supercontinent, Pangea, was founded about 310 million years ago and began to share about 180 million years ago. The next one is expected to be created in about 200 or 250 million years. The wreckage of Pangea led to the formation of the Atlantic Ocean, which is still open and expanding, while the Pacific Ocean is closing and narrowing. The authors of the article also recall that the Pacific is home to a ring of subduction zones along its edges (the Ring of Fire), while the Atlantic has only two.
According to the researchers, there are four fundamental scenarios for the formation of the next supercontinent: Novopange, Pangea Ultima, Aurica and Amasia.
If the current conditions are maintained – with the Atlantic opening and the Pacific decreasing – the next supercontinent will form on the reverse side of the old Pangea, experts say. The Americans will collide with Antarctica that will merge north, and then with Africa and Eurasia join the so-called Novopangea.
If the expansion of the Atlantic slows down and begins to close, the two small subduction arcs may extend along the eastern coast of the United States, which would lead to a fun of Pangea. America, Europe and Africa would come together again in a supercontinent by now called Pangea Ultima, which would be surrounded by a Pacific supporter.
On the other hand, if new sub-sectional zones appear in the Atlantic, both oceans can be closed, and a new outlet pool would be created to replace them.
Finally, the fourth scenario assumes "a completely different future for the future earth," the researchers point out. In this sense, they emphasize that some of the tectonic plates, including Africa and Australia, are now moving to the north, a trial probable driven by anomalies left by Pangea in the Earth's mantle. So, you can imagine a scenario that all the continents, apart from Antarctica, keep moving northward until they connect around that pole in a supercontinent that is given the hypothetical name of Amazia.
Which scenario is the most likely?
Scientists appreciate that Novopange is the most likely scenario because it is a logical progression of current trends, while the other three cases involve the intervention of additional processes.
Which land may look at 200 million years https://t.co/lhO0WUkWA8
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Source and text: RT in Spanish.