A supercomputer has been used to model the creation of the next supercontinent at Curtin University in Australia. According to researchers, Amasya may form in 200-300 million years, when Australia collides with Asia, and then America collides with the continent.
In addition to the currently known picture of the land areas on Earth completely changing, the oceans will also change: the Pacific Ocean will close, while only the Atlantic and Indian oceans will change. In the National Science Review published According to the study, although the formation of supercontinents does not have well-described laws, this phenomenon is described as the result of interactions between tectonic plates and the Earth’s mantle. Scientific observations over the past 30 years also support that before the previous supercontinent, Pangea, there may have been at least two other supercontinents in the past 2 billion years, which formed on Earth approximately every 600 million years.
Continental drift affects the planet’s surface not only in rare cases. Smaller shifts occur more often, thus mountain ranges are created from the collision of continents, Writes Universe citing the example of the creation of the Himalayas. The continents are in constant motion, some are moving more slowly, others are moving faster. Currently, the movement of the Australian-Asian plate is the fastest, reaching 7 centimeters per year moves to the north.
Curtin University researchers used supercomputer modeling to estimate the plate motions. Their results showed that the cooling of the Earth over billions of years affects the thickness and strength of the plates under the oceans, reducing them and making them less resistant to movements.
They also forged the shape of the Amazon at the end of the Great Continent Cycle. The interior of the supercontinent is expected to be hot and dry, while sea levels are expected to be lower than current levels.
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