Scientists warn of what could happen on Earth millions of years from now: there are four scenarios
A new supercontinent could form millions of years in the future. Research outlines four possible outcomes.
Earth could once again be dominated by a single continental mass in roughly 200 to 250 million years. The planet moves through natural cycles in which continents break apart and later reassemble, and we are currently about halfway through that long-term reorganization process.
A study published in Geological Magazine, based on three-dimensional climate models developed by Michael Way of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies and João Duarte of the University of Lisbon, indicates that the formation of this future supercontinent would trigger major climate changes.
The research team proposes four possible configurations for the future continental merger: Novopangea, Pangea Ultima, Amasia, and Aurica. All are tectonically plausible, although some would require additional shifts in current plate dynamics. Earth’s crust is divided into tectonic plates that slowly move over the mantle, a process that causes earthquakes, builds mountain ranges, and opens or closes oceans.
Possible configurations of the future supercontinent
The model considered most likely is Novopangea because it follows present-day tectonic trends. The Pacific Ocean continues to close while the Atlantic Ocean expands. In this scenario, America would drift farther away from Europe and Africa, Antarctica would move northward, and the continental masses would eventually collide on the opposite side of the ancient supercontinent Pangea.
Other scenarios suggest different tectonic evolutions. Pangea Ultima proposes that the Atlantic Ocean would stop expanding and begin to close, pulling America back toward Europe and Africa until a nearly circular continent forms, surrounded by a vast Pacific basin.
Amasia places most of the world’s land near the North Pole after the closure of the Arctic Ocean. Aurica, the most complex model, would require both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans to close, the formation of a new ocean basin in Asia, and the concentration of continents near the equator.
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