Why do geologists think that continental drift will reverse direction and the Atlantic will start to shrink in several million years?

Question

Why do geologists think that continental drift will reverse direction and the Atlantic will start to shrink in several million years?

In: Earth Science

Answer 1

There’s no reversal. Simply the passive plate margins around the Atlantic are eventually going to convert to one or more subduction zones. The direction of mantle flow doesn’t reverse ; we just end up consuming ocean floor.