Gelatinous squid Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 How predictable are plate tectonics? I've been doing research for a future timeline on Wikipedia and there seem to be many different scenarios playing out. In one, a subduction zone forms along the US eastern seaboard, causing the Atlantic to close. In another, the Pacific closes and the Atlantic becomes the new Panthalassa. Everyone seems to agree that some form of Pangaea will form within 250 million years, but no one seems to know what form it will take. Also, I was wondering, are there any sources that explain when the Straits of Gibraltar will close, drying out the Mediterranean? I've heard anywhere from 1-5 million years, but can't find a specific number. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahuijsmans Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 hi! Can't tell you how predicable these tectonics are but I found this youtube video a while back... seems nice .. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shamalama Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 From what I have read, the Mediterranean has closed and re-flooded many times in the last few million years. I'm sure that it will close again in the next few million years but who knows if it will ever completely close? I like the video that ahuijsmans posted but the future projections are a little off in my opinion. It doesn't take into account the rift that is opening in Africa and the red sea right now. Neither does it do anything with the rift that has started in North America running from Oregon south to Mexico through Nevada and Arizona. No one can say for sure what will happen in the future but you can make some short term guesses based on recent plate movements. -Dave __________________________________________________ Geologists on the whole are inconsistent drivers. When a roadcut presents itself, they tend to lurch and weave. To them, the roadcut is a portal, a fragment of a regional story, a proscenium arch that leads their imaginations into the earth and through the surrounding terrain. - John McPheeIf I'm going to drive safely, I can't do geology. - John McPheeCheck out my Blog for more fossils I've found: http://viewsofthemahantango.blogspot.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siteseer Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 New rifts can form and old ones can become inactive. Parts of any of the present plates could fracture due to developing weaknesses into more plates which would be a complicating factor in trying to predict the positions of the continents in the distant future. I'm not sure if something like the formation of the Isthmus of Panama could have been predicted 15 (or even 10?) million years ago based on trends recognizable then. I have the book "Atlas of Mesozoic and Cenozoic Coastlines" by Smith, Smith, and Funnell. As of its publication in 1994, India was thought to have collided with Asia around the Late Oligocene, but today, that collision is recognized as having occurred around the Early Eocene, which is about a 30 million year difference (significant short-term difference but not long-term). How predictable are plate tectonics? I've been doing research for a future timeline on Wikipedia and there seem to be many different scenarios playing out. In one, a subduction zone forms along the US eastern seaboard, causing the Atlantic to close. In another, the Pacific closes and the Atlantic becomes the new Panthalassa. Everyone seems to agree that some form of Pangaea will form within 250 million years, but no one seems to know what form it will take. Also, I was wondering, are there any sources that explain when the Straits of Gibraltar will close, drying out the Mediterranean? I've heard anywhere from 1-5 million years, but can't find a specific number. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tracer Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 well, if ya'll figure out what the plates are gonna do, go ahead and figure out where the best fossils are gonna form and post it here, cuz i wanna leave a note for my heirs... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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