Every child knows the face of Earth today: a blue planet with seven continents, oceans and giant oceans. But one day that face will not exist. As the Earth changes, the seven continents will merge into one supercontinent.
BILD describes a transformation that is unimaginable today.
What was the earth like in the past?
About 200 million years ago there was a giant supercontinent. Its name: Pangea, the so-called native continent. One large land surrounded by water. But Pangea broke up and over millions of years the Earth today was formed along with North and South America, Asia, Africa, Europe, Australia, and Antarctica.
Doctor. Bernhard Steinberger (57), a geophysicist at the Center for Geographical Research in Potsdam, studies the composition of the supercontinent: “We can still observe this deviation from the continent today.” The result is the formation of volcanoes and severe earthquakes. But at the same time the land masses collide again at some point on the planet. Australia is getting closer to Indonesia, and the Indian subcontinent is colliding with Asia. It also causes natural disasters.
Why is the Earth changing again?
Doctor. Steinberger: “The continent is in constant motion. The cause is geological processes deep within our interior. The seabed and various tectonic plates are moving. Therefore, according to Steinberger, it is very likely that there will also be a new supercontinent in about 200 million years. Researchers are even talking about species. From the circle in which the continents are arranged. There may have been other giant continents even before Pangea, but what they looked like is still unknown today.
What will the new earth look like?
Researchers are still not sure about this. There are several theories: on the other hand, a new supercontinent could form at the equator. Or the soil mass moves north and an adjacent soil mass forms at the North Pole. According to the calculations of the US space agency NASA, which set the appropriate predictions, both looked likely.
Will these changes make Earth uninhabitable?
number! Because the continent moves so slowly, only about 10 centimeters per year, people will not see more disturbance during their lifetime than the current generation. There will be new earthquakes and new mountains will rise as the land collides.
However: the location of the new supercontinent will have a major effect on the new Earth’s climate. Because ocean currents are lost or changed. And: At the North Pole, it is much colder than at the equator due to solar radiation.
If a new supercontinent were to form there, there would likely be large ice sheets, like now in Antarctica, that would be uninhabitable. Life then was possible only in the most temperate regions.
–
