The African plate is moving toward the Eurasian plate at a rate of a few centimeters per year. How will this area change in 100 million years? In your answer, consider how continents will change and how the Mediterranean Sea will change.
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To predict how the African plate's movement towards the Eurasian plate will change the area over the span of 100 million years, we can consider the concept of plate tectonics and the geological history of the region.
Plate tectonics is the theory that Earth's lithosphere (which includes the continents and oceanic crust) is divided into several large plates that are in constant motion. These plates interact with one another at boundaries, resulting in various geological activities such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and the formation of mountains.
Currently, the African and Eurasian plates are converging at a rate of a few centimeters per year. Based on this, we can estimate that in 100 million years, the plates will have moved significantly closer to each other. The exact amount of convergence expected over such a vast timescale is uncertain, as plate movements are not perfectly steady and can vary. However, we can assume that the continents will continue to collide, leading to substantial changes in the region.
Over millions of years, this convergence will result in the closure of the Mediterranean Sea. The Mediterranean Sea is currently a remnant of the ancient Tethys Ocean, which began closing around 250 million years ago as the African and Eurasian plates started colliding. The ongoing convergence will further narrow the region between Africa and Europe, eventually causing the Mediterranean Sea to be completely landlocked. This process is known as the closure of the Mediterranean Sea or the Mediterranean drying-up hypothesis.
As the African plate continues to subduct beneath the Eurasian plate, it will create compression and uplift along the collision zone. This will lead to the formation of new mountains and a significant change in the topography of the area. Areas such as the Alps, the Pyrenees, and the Atlas Mountains are examples of mountain ranges that have been formed due to the ongoing convergence between these plates. Similar mountain-building processes are expected to continue in the future, resulting in the formation of new mountain ranges or the further growth of existing ones.
In summary, over the course of 100 million years, the African plate moving towards the Eurasian plate will result in further convergence between the two plates. This will lead to the closure of the Mediterranean Sea, the formation of new mountains, and a significant change in the topography of the region.