Which Ocean Will Close First?
Posted: Mon Aug 12, 2019 7:01 pm
Due to the movements of the Earth's tectonic plates over geologic time the Earth's oceans come and go as supercontinents breakup and then the continental fragments collide, closing the ocean that once existed between. The present collision of the Indian subcontinent with the Eurasian plate is a current example of a place where plate movements have closed part of an ocean that formerly lay between large land masses.
With the current spreading of the Atlantic Mid-Ocean Ridge the Atlantic Ocean is growing wider while the vast Pacific is slowly shrinking as the two American continents move westward, and also the Australian plate is moving northward. If these crustal motions continue eventually the mighty Pacific will be closed. An episode of of How the Earth Was Made showed a projection Australia of Australia colliding with North America. However, I've also seen predictions that somehow the explanation of the Atlantic will be reversed and North America will once again connect with north Africa.
So this leads me to the question: Which of the Earth's oceans will close next?
With the current spreading of the Atlantic Mid-Ocean Ridge the Atlantic Ocean is growing wider while the vast Pacific is slowly shrinking as the two American continents move westward, and also the Australian plate is moving northward. If these crustal motions continue eventually the mighty Pacific will be closed. An episode of of How the Earth Was Made showed a projection Australia of Australia colliding with North America. However, I've also seen predictions that somehow the explanation of the Atlantic will be reversed and North America will once again connect with north Africa.
So this leads me to the question: Which of the Earth's oceans will close next?