What will continents look like in the future

They created a model of how the current continents will appear to million years from now. 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.

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 to 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.

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. Videos News India. The dissolution of both Kenorland and Rodinia triggered weather patterns resulting in ice ages millions of years long.

The collision of continental plates raised the sea floor, creating the shallower basins that allowed aquatic life to make the evolutionary jump to dry land. Future iterations of the cycle might likewise kickstart an evolutionary boom. Current tectonic activity appears relatively settled and will likely remain so for many millennia. Register or Log In. The Magazine Shop. Login Register Stay Curious Subscribe. Planet Earth. Credit: Hannah S.

Newsletter Sign up for our email newsletter for the latest science news. Sign Up. Already a subscriber? Want more? More From Discover. Recommendations From Our Store. Stay Curious. Long ago, all the continents were crammed together into one large land mass called Pangea.

Pangea broke apart about million years ago, its pieces drifting away on the tectonic plates — but not permanently. The continents will reunite again in the deep future. And a new study, which will be presented December 8 during an online poster session at the meeting of the American Geophysical Union, suggests that the future arrangement of this supercontinent could dramatically impact the habitability and climate stability of Earth.

The findings also have implications for searching for life on other planets. The study, which has been submitted for publication, is the first to model the climate on a supercontinent in the deep future. How land could be distributed in the Aurica supercontinent top versus Amasia. The future land configurations are shown in gray, with modern-day outlines of the continents for comparison.

Credit: Way et al. In the new study, researchers used a 3D global climate model to simulate how these two land mass arrangements would affect the global climate system.