# Continents in motion: Where next? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 15, 2002, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/continents-in-motion-where-next/142912 "2002-12-15T17:22:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2002, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/continents-in-motion-where-next/142912/1 "2002-12-15T17:22:29Z")
We’re all familiar with the current orientation of land masses, and most of us believe that they’ve moved around quite a bit over time as the result of plate tectonics. So. . . Where are they headed now? Will Venezuelans one day be walking over to the French Quarter to celebrate Mardi Gras? Will Africa close off the Mediterranean Sea? Is Antarctica stuck at the bottom of the world? ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2002, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/continents-in-motion-where-next/142912/2 "2002-12-15T18:06:27Z")
I love the Internet. Google, “plate tectonics future”. 50,000,000 A.D. [http://www.scotese.com/future.htm](http://www.scotese.com/future.htm) 250,000,000 A.D. [http://www.scotese.com/future2.htm](http://www.scotese.com/future2.htm) ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2002, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/continents-in-motion-where-next/142912/3 "2002-12-15T18:16:18Z")
I’ll be damned - it’s true - “There will always be an England”, albeit one headed for the North Pole. I can just see them debating on whether to join the “Pangean Union”. ---
**Author:** ![TVGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/82dd89/32.png) [@TVGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TVGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2002, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/continents-in-motion-where-next/142912/4 "2002-12-15T18:30:34Z")
But wait, I’m confused. Isn’t the mid-Atlatic rift _spreading_? And what about the Northeast pacfic subduction zone under the west coast of the US? I guess they’re saying that Atlantic coastal subduction will occur faster than sea floor spreading? Interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2002, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/continents-in-motion-where-next/142912/5 "2002-12-15T19:12:50Z")
Vernor Vinge’s novel _Marooned in Realtime_, set about 50,000,000 years in the future (but with characters surviving from the near future), has much of its action take place in the Indonesian Alps, his assumption being that Australia will collide with southeast Asia in much the way that India did with south central Asia, with a range rivaling the Himalayas resulting from the collision. ---
**Author:** ![mrcrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@mrcrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrcrow)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2002, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/continents-in-motion-where-next/142912/6 "2002-12-15T20:41:48Z")
did the book cover the eventuality of sea levels rising where i live the prediction is that we will be under water in 350 years 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Motog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85e7bf/32.png) [@Motog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motog)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2002, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/continents-in-motion-where-next/142912/7 "2002-12-16T01:02:31Z")
[This](http://www.satirewire.com/news/jan02/australia.shtml) Wire story explains some of the more recent movements ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2002, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/continents-in-motion-where-next/142912/8 "2002-12-16T01:06:33Z")
I believe that since the Laurentian team has blocked most of the Gondwana drive to the north, an on-side kick is called for. ---
**Author:** ![Gairloch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d2c977/32.png) [@Gairloch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gairloch)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2002, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/continents-in-motion-where-next/142912/9 "2002-12-16T03:43:57Z")
They say Mt. Everest is eight feet higher now than it was when Hillary climbed it, and is growing by about two inches a year – somehow the thought of Calcutta ending up in Nepal is very disturbing. Forget the on-side kick, I say we call for something proven to be effective – legislation. Gairloch ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2002, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/continents-in-motion-where-next/142912/10 "2002-12-16T17:13:44Z")
> [@](#): > > They say Mt. Everest is eight feet higher now than it was when Hillary climbed it, and is growing by about two inches a year – somehow the thought of Calcutta ending up in Nepal is very disturbing. Here’s a hijack: How high can a mountain on this planet get? It looks from those projections as though the subcontinent is just going to keep on driving deeper into Asia. At what point does weathering start to take down the mountain faster than the continental upthrusting? [Sorry…that sounds awfully dirty somehow…] How high could Everest get? ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2002, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/continents-in-motion-where-next/142912/11 "2002-12-16T17:51:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mrcrow \* > \*\*did the book cover the eventuality of sea levels rising > where i live the prediction is that we will be under water in 350 years 🙂 \*\* I believe you are thinking of _current events_, while **DDG** ’s cites were dealing with the future. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Threadkiller](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aca169/32.png) [@Threadkiller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Threadkiller)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2002, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/continents-in-motion-where-next/142912/12 "2002-12-16T18:16:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Duck Duck Goose \* > \*\*I love the Internet. Google, “plate tectonics future”. > > 50,000,000 A.D. > [http://www.scotese.com/future.htm](http://www.scotese.com/future.htm) Sucks to be Italy! ---
**Author:** ![chukhung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e79b87/32.png) [@chukhung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chukhung)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2002, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/continents-in-motion-where-next/142912/13 "2002-12-16T19:18:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by toadspittle \* > \*\*At what point does weathering start to take down the mountain faster than the continental upthrusting? [Sorry…that sounds awfully dirty somehow…] How high could Everest get? \*\* I was googling around for an answer to this and came across this paper: [http://students.washington.edu/dfinlays/himalaya/](http://students.washington.edu/dfinlays/himalaya/) > [@](#): > > One consequence of long-term river erosion is long term uplift of mountains. As counter intuitive as this may seem, many scientists believe that the extraordinary altitude of the Himalayas may, in part, be explained by the very deep gorges cut into the Himalayas by such rivers as the Indus, the Arun and the Tsangpo (Brahmaputra). > > Imagine an ice cube floating in a glass of water. Because the water is slightly more dense than the ice, the ice floats. Now, if you were to cut a ‘U’ shaped notch in the ice cube, the cube would weigh less in the water an float higher causing the “valley” walls to be higher still After reading that, I realized that I actually know nothing about geology (erosion makes mountains taller?!?); so I’ll defer the answer to your question to someone who’s actually qualified… ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2002, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/continents-in-motion-where-next/142912/14 "2002-12-16T20:15:51Z")
I want to have real estate on the coast of that totally bitching inland sea in 250 million years. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2002, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/continents-in-motion-where-next/142912/15 "2002-12-16T20:40:18Z")
> [@](#): > > Imagine an ice cube floating in a glass of water. Because the water is slightly more dense than the ice, the ice floats. Now, if you were to cut a ‘U’ shaped notch in the ice cube, the cube would weigh less in the water an float higher causing the “valley” walls to be higher still Hmm. Well, there is the one thing we never think of, namely that the plates are floating on top of a sea of molten rock…so if erosion were to cut out enough of the plate so as to make it less dense overall–without diminishing the height of the mountains themselves–that could, in theory, make it all float higher. Weird.