A new supercontinent forms every 600 million years, with the last being Pangea, which formed 300 million years ago, the researchers said. According to this, a new supercontinent named Amasia will form in the next 300 million years. This will happen when the now-shrinking Pacific Ocean disappears and all the continents converge around the North Pole.
A new study in Australia has revealed that the Pacific Ocean will disappear 300 million years from now, bringing the continents together to form a new supercontinent called Amasia, located around the North Pole.
The study, led by Curtin University, highlights that the Pacific Ocean began to shrink as dinosaurs roamed the Earth. The Pacific Ocean continues to get a little smaller each year, the researchers said.
Continents Will Connect Like a Jigsaw Puzzle
The model created by the researchers showed that the Americas will move eastward in the next 300 million years, and the Asian continent will move from east to west, joining together like a puzzle piece. Antarctica connects to South America and Europe joins Asia to complete Amasya.
A New Supercontinent Forms Every 600 Million Years
Researchers reported that the first supercontinent, called Vaalbara, formed 3.3 billion years ago, followed by Ur 300 million years later. Kenorland was next in line when it was formed 2.7 billion years ago.
Then came Columbia, created by major impact events 1.8 billion years ago. This supercontinent consisted of proto-cratons that previously formed Laurentia, Baltica, Ukraine and the Amazon Shields, Australia and even Siberia, North China and Kalaharia.
When Columbia began to break apart within a few hundred million years, it recombined about a billion years ago to form Rodinia and dominated the earth for the next 350 million years.
Then, about 600 million years ago, Pannotia formed and continued to evolve for about 550 million years before splitting south into the main landmass of Gondwana and Laurentia, Siberia and Baltica.
Pangea, which forms the basis of today's continents, appeared 300 million years ago. This massive mass began to break apart during the Early Jurassic about 200 million years ago, eventually forming the modern continents and the Atlantic and Indian Oceans.
The Great Ocean Will Disappear
According to the authors of the new study, Amasia will be next. Lead author of the study, Dr. Chuan Huang said, "The emerging new supercontinent has already been called Amasia, because it is thought that when the Americas collide with Asia, the Pacific Ocean (as opposed to the Atlantic and Indian oceans) will be the way. Australia is also expected to play a role in this important Earth event. With Asia first. collide and then unite America and Asia when the Pacific Ocean closes”
The Pacific Ocean is shrinking by 305 cubic meters per year due to changing plate tectonics beneath the seafloor.