Pangaea, Gondwana, Pangaea Ultima

Continent Drift: Cyclicality of Continental Shifts

Recent studies tend to prove the cyclicality of Continent Shift, leading our planet to another aggregation of its continental blocks: Pangaea Ultima. However, unlike the past evolutions, this phenomenon should be considered with a decisive interference, which did not exist in the past: The human factors, at least as long as humanity could survive.

Forth to Pangaea

Plate Tectonics

 

Since Alfred Wegener‘s works, in the early 20th Century, it took a long time for geophysicists to accept the theory of Plate Tectonics, which describes how continents were shifting in the last quarter of a million of years.

This drifting is the origin of all seismic phenomena and more particularly earth quakes. 

Pangaea

Then, sub-marine explorations allowed the studies of ocean ridges, which proved the actual drifts of continents. Other studies, of the animal and fauna species both side the Southern Atlantic Ocean proved that South America and Africa were probably on the same land.
The simple explanation of this shift is the fact that continents are lying on magma, i.e. rocks in fusion, which fill the interior of the Earth. The state of fusion is due to the pressure. The visible part of the magma is lava projected during volcanic eruptions.

In the mid sixties, once the scientific community had accepted the reality of continental drift, it was easier to admit that the five main continents masses: America, Eurasia, Africa, Australia and Antarctica, are pieces of the same puzzle, which was the original “mother continent”, Pangaea.

It appears obviously as evidence when one compares the shapes of the maps of today’s continent.

Gondwana

Gondwana and Laurasia could be defined as an intermediary state of the evolution of Pangaea. The first was a “Southern Mother Continent”, while the second included the Northern continents. Both were reunited in Pangaea.

Today’ s continents and oceans

Today situation is a continuous evolution of continental plates, marked by earth quakes, seismic activities and volcanic eruptions.

Current measurements prove that continental masses are getting closer: Japan and North America, the Eastern Hemisphere and the Americas… The global tendency should be a re-aggregation of our continents towards a new future single continental mass.

Pangaea Ultima

This future mass is “Pangaea Ultima”, which is expected to appear in another quarter of a million of years! Where will it be positioned on a new Earth mainly covered by oceans?

Other questions remained unanswered:

  • Will we be able to have more accurate assessments of this new “Terra”, based on today’s possibilities to observe exoplanets?
  • What will be Man’s impacts on this evolution?
We'll probably have better tools... but....

Further readings

The Origins of Continents and Oceans, by Alfred L Wegener, translated by John Biram, Courier Dover Publications, 1966, ISBN  0486617084
 
 
 
 
 
 

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Julian

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Julian


Last edited Jul 30, 2008 10:36 AM
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