Humanity is currently living in the dawn of a new massive geological process that will lead to the formation of one supercontinent, which scientists have called Amasia, writes the Daily Mail.
Zheng-Xiang Li from Curtin University in Perth, Australia reminds us again of the theory of the current continents coming together. According to the famous geologist, the earthquake in Nepal is a clear sign that the process is underway and we may yet become witnesses to such monumental and destructive cataclysms.
The Australian scientist has been studying Nepal for quite a long time. He has been researching the drifting together between the Indian and Eurasian plates in the Himalayan nation. Dr. Li explains that each year the sub continent of India moves several centimeters north toward Asia. This was the main reason for the tectonic activity in the region, which has claimed thousands of human lives in recent years.
The other continents are also drifting toward each other, while the Pacific Ocean is narrowing by several centimeters annually, further notes the scientist. The final result of this colossal scale process will be the inevitable collision between America and Eurasia, as well as Australia with India and Asia.
"It would take at least tens of millions more years - perhaps several hundred million years - before the new supercontinent is fully formed, " Dr Li told the Sydney Morning Herald. The theory of the formation of Amasia is more than 5 decades old. Today, new technologies allow us to monitor the processes in practice, while just several years ago it was only a theory.
Even though the scientific community is convinced that the continents will merge into one supercontinent after several million years, there are still arguments exploding among the different groups regarding where its center will be.
While one camp thinks that the center of Amasia will be Africa, others support the theory that the center of the supercontinent will be the North Pole.
According to the latest research, North and South America will merge quite soon (from a geological standpoint), while the Caribbean Sea and Arctic Ocean will disappear. Then Asia will collide with the merged Americans. Based on analysis, this will happen after 50 to 200 million years.
