Pangea Ultima: Earth's future supercontinent

Pangea Ultima is a future supercontinent structure that could occur within the next 100 million to 200 million years .

According to the theory of plate tectonics, Earth's tectonic plates collide, merge and form giant, single landmasses called supercontinents. The movement and interaction of these plates over millions of years causes the continuous drift of continents across the surface of our planet.

Alfred Wegener, a German multidisciplinary scientific researcher, proposed the theory of continental drift in the early 20th century, asserting that landmasses are not fixed in place. Since then, extensive investigations and studies have confirmed his theory to be correct. Some of the evidence includes the underground distribution of fossils, how coastlines fit together, and other geological similarities shared between continents that are now far apart.

Alfred Wegener is the originator of the continental drift theory presented in his work "The Formation of Continents and Oceans" . He constantly strives to restore geophysics, geography, meteorology and other geology-related subjects, analyzing and specializing issues, combining methods to discuss. Evidence for the continental drift theory.

However, continental drift did not happen overnight. This process takes millions of years for the continents to collide. After colliding, they formed mountain ranges and the interiors of continents. When all the continents merge into one large landmass, they form a supercontinent. Scientists currently believe that a similar process will occur within the next 100 to 250 million years to create Pangea Ultima, a new supercontinent of Earth in the future.

Researchers from the University of Bristol believe that 250 million years from now, all the continents will merge together into a single supercontinent called Pangea Ultima.

Pangea Ultima may be the newest supercontinent but it's certainly not the first. Evidence and research indicate that Earth has had several supercontinents throughout its history. The most recent supercontinent in Earth's history was Pangea , which existed 335 to 175 million years ago, during the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic eras. The five supercontinents believed to have appeared earlier were P angea viz Vaalbara, Ur, Kenorland, Columbia and Rodinia.

Pangea Ultima, the seventh supercontinent , will be the culmination of Earth's tectonic movements over the next 250 million years. Researchers speculated the formation of Earth's new supercontinent after running simulations on a supercomputer, and they published these results in the journal Nature Geoscience . These simulations predict the formation of a new supercontinent located near the tropics near the equator. Along with this geography, we also have a forecast of possible atmospheric changes.

Researchers used climate models to study the humidity and temperature patterns that might occur in Pangea Ultima. This model is very similar to the model that provides weather forecasts every morning on the news. However, it runs on supercomputers and is much more complex and powerful. For example, it is capable of predicting things like _CO2 concentrations and the amount of volcanic gases in the atmosphere on a global scale.

The formation of supercontinents requires tectonic plates to collide and merge with each other.  The immense pressure of these collisions resulted in the creation of mountains and volcanoes. In fact, increased volcanic activity is a prominent feature of supercontinent formation. We may see the same thing happen if Pangea Ultima forms.

Volcanic activity not only affects land but also affects the Earth's atmosphere. Eruptions release large amounts of gases, such as carbon dioxide, into the environment. The accumulation of these gases has significant impacts on climate, such as higher temperatures and disruption of weather patterns. Researchers say Earth's temperature could reach a staggering 40-50 degrees Celsius (104-122 degrees Fahrenheit) or even higher at that time.

In addition to the above, researchers also believe that with rising temperatures, weather conditions will become so humid that humans may no longer exist.

In this new world, average temperatures can exceed 40°C (104°F) in many parts of the world. Extreme humidity can make the situation worse - and that's not even the worst.

While Pangea Ultima may not have suitable climatic conditions for humans to live in, that doesn't necessarily mean that all life on Earth will cease to exist. At least that's what the formation of the previous supercontinent Pangea suggests.

Experts and geologists believe that the formation of Pangea was part of the cause of the mass extinction event in the Permian period. The appearance of Pangea had a significant impact, especially on marine life. As the supercontinent formed, shallow-water habitats diminished and land barriers prevented cold water from flowing from the poles to the tropics. This leads to a decrease in oxygen levels in waters in warmer regions of Pangaea.

As a result, up to 95% of Permian marine life was wiped off the face of the Earth. However, the story does not end there. Both dinosaurs and mammals appeared during the Pangea era. They not only survived but thrived on Earth for millennia before going extinct about 65 million years ago. This era also saw the appearance of pterosaurs and ichthyosaurs.

The researchers emphasize that most mammal species may disappear due to the formation of Pangea Ultima , but those that are accustomed to living in harsh conditions and those that can adapt to those conditions can still survive.

The future of humanity on Pangea Ultima doesn't look promising , but one thing that sets humans apart from other species on Earth is our resilience. We may find good opportunities to find a new home on a habitable planet outside the Solar System.

Colonizing space may sound like something out of science fiction, but it could become a reality in the near future. Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and founder of SpaceX, has stated plans to partner with NASA for Artemis III, the next lunar mission scheduled for 2025. Starship, the spacecraft under development for this mission, which could help establish a base on the Moon. Musk also intends to colonize Mars with a city of 1 million people by 2050.

Serkan Saydam, Deputy Director of the Australian Space Engineering Research Center and a professor at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, shares this vision and believes that humans could colonize Mars by 2050. With China planning to send a human crew to Mars by 2033 and NASA aiming to send astronauts in the late 2030s or early 2040s, the quest for a new home for humanity seems like it's not too far away anymore.