2023-11-21 03:00:00
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What was the Earth like millions of years ago? Were there as many continents as there are today? Well actually, About 200 million years ago there was a supercontinent called Pangea that at one point divided, creating the current continents that today make up our planet. In reality, these land masses are not immutable (since they move due to plate tectonics, crustal plates that sit on the Earth’s mantle) and it is very possible that the current continents will end up forming another supercontinent in approximately 200 years. millions of years. Researchers speculate that supercontinents form in regular cycles of once every 600 million years. So, How Pangea formed about 310 million years ago, and began to break apart about 180 million years ago.researchers believe that the next supercontinent will form within about 200 or 250 million years, that is, we are currently at the equator of the current formation cycle (so we can rest assured).
The Earth is heading towards a single continent
Scientists apparently know approximately when, but also wonder how, the future supercontinent would form. In fact, a team of researchers from the University of Lisbon has proposed four different models for the formation of supercontinents, to which they have given the following names: Novopangea, Pangea Ultima, Amasia and Aurica. The last two are the ones that, according to these models, would have the best chance of being formed. Thus, Amasia would be formed if all the continents moved towards the North Hemisphere (Antarctica would be left alone in the southern hemisphere), and Aurica would form around the equator and extend towards the northern and southern hemispheres.
A team of researchers from the University of Lisbon has proposed four different models for the formation of supercontinents.
Photo: iStock
Pangea, Earth’s supercontinent 250 million years ago.
In the case of both the formation of Amasia and Aurica, a drastic change in the global climate would occur. And how would it be? To shed light on the topic, the research team has carried out a simulation (in collaboration with the Goddard Institute for Space Studies from NASA) to predict the climate of this new supercontinent. Among other things, Researchers predict that temperatures would plummet, causing a freeze never seen before on our planet. and that it would extend at least for the next 100 million years. In the case of Amasia, the model proposed predicts a new Ice Age and with it the disappearance of the biodiversity that is currently present in tropical areas (although it is possible that new species could emerge that adapt to the extremely cold climate of the region. Land). On the other hand, in the scenario that foresees the formation of the supercontinent Aurica, the result would be very different. The Earth would absorb sunlight from this area causing an increase in temperatureswhich would be aggravated by the absence of polar caps, which are responsible for reflecting the heat of the Earth’s atmosphere.
Video: Curiosities about planet Earth
But are experts clear about which supercontinent will form on Earth? In fact, heScientists claim that after the breakup of Pangea 175 million years ago, the Ring of Fire was formed, a subduction zone along the perimeter of the Pacific Ocean. from which all the volcanoes on Earth feed and which is the cause of devastating earthquakes. During its creation, Eurasia, the current megacontinent (a land mass smaller than a supercontinent) formed by Europe and Asia, already encountered this dangerous area of the planet. So as Eurasia moves laterally along the Ring of Fire, at some point it will collide with the American continent and eventually form a new supercontinent in the next 200 to 250 million years. This new supercontinent is the one that scientists have named Amasia, and where will it be located? There is no consensus among researchers, although the study focuses on the Arctic Ocean.
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