“Unveiling Amasia: The Dawn of Earth’s Future Supercontinent!”

The continents of the Earth are continuously shifting. At least on three occasions, they have converged to create a single massive continent. If past events are any indication, the existing continents will merge once more to form a new supercontinent. Recent research published in Nature reveals how this may unfold.

Envision continents as enormous jigsaw pieces moving across the surface of the Earth. When they drift apart, vast oceans emerge. When they unite, oceans vanish. This dynamic occurs because continents rest on shifting tectonic plates of the Earth’s crust.

“Continents on these plates typically shift, I would estimate, at the same speed your fingernails grow,” notes Ross Mitchell, a scholar at Yale University. While this may seem gradual, it accumulates over hundreds of millions of years.

If you examine an atlas, you can envision how Africa and South America, for instance, once fit snugly together.

“If you could rewind the process and restore all the continents to their original jigsaw layout, you would see this enormous landmass of all the Earth’s continental segments united,” Mitchell explains.

The last instance when all the landmass merged was during the formation of a supercontinent known as Pangaea. Dinosaurs roamed there. However, Pangaea wasn’t the inaugural supercontinent.

“Three, and possibly a contested fourth supercontinent, have existed in the billions of years,” Mitchell states.

He has researched this ancient history by examining tiny magnets embedded in rocks worldwide. Those magnets indicated true north when they were encased in the rock. By sampling these magnets from layers of rock deposited over millions of years, one can narrate the journey of these continents.

This naturally led Mitchell to speculate about what the next supercontinent might resemble.

There are two predominant theories. One suggests the continents will once again converge at the location of the last supercontinent, centered on Africa. This would effectively close the Atlantic Ocean. The alternate theory proposes that the Atlantic would continue to expand indefinitely.

In this scenario, “a supercontinent splits apart, while the continents glide around to the opposite side of the globe, recreating the next supercontinent, positioned 180 degrees away from the previous one,” Mitchell explains.

This would result in a supercontinent emerging in place of the Pacific Ocean.

A Supercontinent Named Amasia

However, Mitchell’s research for his Ph.D. dissertation indicates that both theories may be incorrect. Instead, he suggests that the continents appear to be migrating northward. This implies that the Caribbean Sea and the Arctic Ocean will be compressed closed.

“Consider sealing off the Caribbean Sea — you have now unified North and South America,” Mitchell states. “By merging the Arctic Ocean, you would connect the Americas with Eurasia.”

This would form a supercontinent referred to as Amasia, situated at the northern part of the Earth. Eventually, it would drift south toward the equator. Under this scenario, Antarctica might remain detached at the southernmost part of the globe.

Brendan Murphy, a researcher of supercontinents at St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia, describes the Yale team’s concept as thought-provoking, imaginative, and plausible.

“What they have proposed is an additional possibility that, to be honest, many of us hadn’t previously considered. Even if the model is incorrect, we will gain significant insights by testing it.”

Moreover, he emphasizes that the challenge extends beyond merely discovering new ways to assemble the Earth’s jigsaw puzzle continents.

“This is crucial as it impacts the evolution of our entire planet, including the life forms inhabiting it,” Murphy notes. “For instance, many are convinced that supercontinents emerge and remain separated during significant climatic changes.”

Of course, it is unlikely that the next supercontinent will materialize for another 100 million years or so. Mitchell mentions that humanity will probably have disappeared long before then, so we won’t witness it, “but it’s certainly enjoyable to ponder.”

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