The Pacific Ocean is shrinking to its narrowest point since the age of dinosaurs, paving the way for the rise of the future supercontinent Amasia.
Amasia, the supercontinent named by combining “America” and “Asia”—the two major continents that will embrace all smaller continents—will emerge in approximately 200-300 million years, a vast timespan for humankind but merely a brief moment in the lifespan of Earth.
This conclusion is the result of collaborative research between Curtin University in Australia and Peking University in China, utilizing simulations from a supercomputer based on evidence of Earth’s tectonic activity.
The process of merging 4 continents to form the supercontinent Amasia – (Image: CURTIN UNIVERSITY)
Previous studies have shown that Earth’s continents have repeatedly merged into supercontinents only to break apart again as we see today. This process occurs when certain tectonic plates are “subducted”, meaning they are literally swallowed into the Earth, while other plates are “released” on the opposite side of the globe.
As tectonic plates are rearranged, the continents and oceans they carry also shift.
According to Sci-News, the research team is investigating how and where the next reassembly of continents will take place.
The model indicates that due to Earth cooling over billions of years, the thickness and strength of the tectonic plates supporting the oceans are weakening over time. Consequently, what the Earth “swallows” in the next subduction event will not be young oceans like the Atlantic or Indian Oceans, but the aging Pacific Ocean.
The Pacific Ocean, the oldest ocean of the modern world, formed around 700 million years ago and was once a super-ocean. It is currently shrinking to its narrowest point since the age of dinosaurs and is expected to disappear in 200-300 million years.
This is also inevitable because, according to the new model, over the past 2 billion years, a supercontinent has formed every 600 million years, a phenomenon referred to as the “supercontinent cycle.”
Dinosaurs emerged on the supercontinent Pangaea (320-170 million years ago) before it was divided into various landmasses across multiple continents. Two hundred million years from now, future species will reunite thanks to Amasia.
Australia will play the role of a “source hub” initiating the process by colliding with Asia before the Australia-Asia-Africa cluster connects to the Americas, which is also beginning to merge with Antarctica. Subsequently, the old Australia will become a “closure hub”, linking South America to the lower part of the Australia-Asia-Africa-Antarctica cluster.
The final result, expected to take shape in the next 280 million years – (Image: CURTIN UNIVERSITY).
According to Professor Zheng-Xiang Li from the Earth Dynamics Research Group at the School of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Curtin University, the formation of Amasia will significantly change Earth’s ecosystems and environment.
The sea level of the super-ocean surrounding Amasia is expected to be much lower than it is today, and the vast interior of the supercontinent will be very dry and hot.
The research has just been published in National Science Review.
