Aurica (supercontinent)

A video showing the assembly of Aurica.

Aurica is a possible future supercontinent configuration. It is one of the four proposed supercontinents that are speculated to form within 200 million years, the others being Pangaea Proxima, Amasia, and Novopangaea. The Aurica hypothesis was created by scholars at the Geological Magazine[1] following an American Geophysical Union study linking the strength of ocean tides to the supercontinent cycle.[2] The name is a portmanteau of America and Australia, which form the core of the supercontinent. The study noted that "When tectonic plates slide, sink and shift the Earth's continents to form large landmasses, or supercontinents, ocean basins open and close in tandem. As these basins change shape, they can strike forms that amplify and intensify their tides."

  1. ^ Duarte, João; Schellart, Wouter; Rosas, Filipe (3 October 2016). "The future of Earth's oceans: consequences of subduction initiation in the Atlantic and implications for supercontinent formation". Geological Magazine. 155: 45–58. doi:10.1017/S0016756816000716. S2CID 132854162 – via Cambridge University Press.
  2. ^ "Study proposed link between the formation of supercontinents, the strength of ocean tides". AGU.org. 11 April 2018. Archived from the original on 2018-12-08.