The tectonic activity of the Earth occurs slowly, within the limits of human perception. But researchers have the opportunity, using modern methods of analysis, to determine when and what processes took place over hundreds of millions of years of the formation of the planet.
American experts studied the main faults of lithospheric plates on the ocean floor and found that the rate of their divergence decreases over time.
This made it possible to create a formula and calculate how further processes will take place. In the course of this work, scientists were able to identify a certain pattern in the movement of the earth’s crust.
Global cataclysms, in which serious changes occur on Earth: the outlines of the continents change, parts of the land protrude from the water or go under it, strong volcanic eruptions begin – they repeat once every 27 million years.
And then they subside again, as if the planet’s pulse is slowly beating.
“We are documenting a slowdown in these processes, in some cases up to 20% over 5 million years, but it depends on whether the changes are along the boundary of the tectonic plate or in the middle of it,” the study says.
However, the overall rate of separation of the lithospheric plates is decreasing, and the “pulse” of the Earth “beats” more slowly over time. The next “blow” will be in 20 million years or later.
From another perspective, it looks like the planet is being cleansed.
