The world could have a new supercontinent within 200 million to 300 million years as the Pacific Ocean shrinks and closes.
Researchers at Curtin University in Australia and Peking University in China used a supercomputer to model the evolution of Earth’s tectonic plates and the formation of a future supercontinent. The magazine National Science Review published its findings on 28 September.
“Over the past two billion years, Earth’s continents have collided to form a supercontinent every 600 million years, known as the supercontinent cycle. This means that present-day continents must come together again in a few hundred million years,” said lead author Dr. Chuan Huang, a researcher at the Curtin Earth Dynamics Research Group and the School of Earth and Planetary Sciences, in a statement.
The formation of supercontinents occurred in a variety of ways, scientists believe.
The team’s simulation showed that because Earth has been cooling for billions of years since its formation, the thickness and strength of the tectonic plates beneath the oceans has reduced over time.
This natural process would prevent the formation of the next supercontinent as a result of the shrinking Atlantic or Indian oceans, which scientists consider relatively young oceans. These oceans likely formed when Earth’s newest supercontinent broke apart and the various pieces slowly drifted away from each other.
Called Pangea, the landmass formed about 320 million years ago, according to the study’s authors. It broke up between 170 million and 180 million years ago when dinosaurs walked the Earth.
Source: CNN Brasil
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