The Pacific Is Destined to Vanish as Earth's Continents Meld Into a New Supercontinent

A new simulation shows that the Pacific Ocean's days are numbered.

There is good news. The oldest ocean on the planet has another 300 million years left. The Pacific could celebrate its billionth birthday before it ends up being a thing.

The ocean is probably going to be swallowed up before that.

The Pacific will not look the same in its last years of life. Since it was a super ocean around the last supercontinent of Pangea, the ocean has shrunk a few centimeters every year.

The ocean is home to many subduction zones, where plates collide and ride over each other. The 'Ring of Fire' in the Pacific is similar to a bath tub drain.

The distance between North America, Asia and Australia is collapsing each year due to a small slip under the Pacific plate.

The Pacific Ocean is doomed because not all scientists agree on what the next supercontinent will look like.

Some studies suggest that if the Atlantic Ocean shrinks in the future, it will create a supercontinent ringed by a super Pacific ocean.

They say the world is headed for a supercontinent in which North America collides with Asia.

Poor Australia is left out of this 'cute couple' name but the Southern Hemisphere seems to play an important role in plugging up what is left of the Pacific.

The recent simulations from researchers in Australia use realistic plate and mantle parameters from the past to predict the future.

"Over the past two billion years, Earth's continents have collided together to form a supercontinent every 600 million years, known as the supercontinent cycle," said Earth scientist and lead author.

In less than 300 million years, the Pacific Ocean is likely to close and allow for the formation of Amasia, debunking some previous scientific theories.

The new simulation suggests that the Pacific Ocean will be destroyed when Amasia forms.

The Pacific closes due to the weakness of the upper layer of the ocean's crust.

When Amasia forms, the earth will be vastly different. The sea level is expected to be lower and the interior of the supercontinent will be very arid.

All of the simulations have tried to predict what our planet will be like in the future.

This isn't the only model that predicts the demise of the Pacific.

The Americas collide with Antarctica before crashing into Africa. The Pacific is cut off in a different way but with the same result.

The Pacific and Atlantic oceans will close for good in a new scenario called Aurica.

One thing is for certain, Earth and its oceans will not be the same again.

The study was published in a peer reviewed journal.