Earth's Next Supercontinent Will Look Incredible, According To Scientists
The Earth is always moving, not just around the Sun. Tectonic plates beneath the surface are always on the move - shifting, creating, destroying.?
While abrupt plate movement is notorious for causing earthquakes and damage to human life, this process has been happening right beneath our noses since the formation of planet Earth.?
Now, NASA researchers have shared a glimpse of Earth's continental future.?
What will Earth look like in the future?
Earlier, a supercontinent named Pangea existed 335 million years ago - the most recent one on Earth. All seven continents and five oceans emerged from that large landmass. And the planet is always evolving.?
The research is focused on understanding how tectonic plates are moving on Earth, the planet's slow rotation rate, the increase in Sun's brightness as well the future of climate change. They created a model of how the current continents will appear 200 to 250 million years from now.?
Also read:?Sun-Like Stars Eat Their Earth-Like Planets Frequently, Say Scientists
Their assessment showed two possibilities - That the current continents will become one super mass akin to Pangea near the equator called "Aurica" or that with Antarctica staying as it is, other continents would be pushed north of the equator and form a landmass called "Amasia".?
These changes will also reflect in natural conditions on the planet - with average surface temperature only differing by minimal degree Celsius in both the scenarios.?
Are supercontinents normal on Earth?
The study was published in Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems journal.Currently, Earth is halfway done with its current continent formation cycle.?
Known as the "supercontinent cycle", the landmasses on Earth follow a pattern of coming together and breaking every 400 to 600 million years. It's not an abrupt one-off process as badly researched sci-fi films would have you believe, but happens all the time.?
Also read:?Researchers Discover Earth's Northernmost Island Off Greenland By Accident
In fact, the plates are moving without your knowledge as you read this article.?
The scientists also attempted to understand the climate conditions that would exist when either of these continents come to fruition. In "Amasia" ice sheets would take over to create a white supercontinent in the absence of a northern pole. For "Aurica", snow and ice would be little with average temperatures of 20 degree Celsius.?
Will humans be alive to witness the next supercontinent cycle? We can't be certain. But we promise to bring you the best and latest from the world of science and tech on Indiatimes.com while we're all here.
