Continental Drift How much longer...?

Question

I was just wondering... How much longer, given the current rate of North American continental drift, until Alaska bridges the 50-mile gap and crashes into Siberia.

Also, any ideas on how a new northern "Himalayan" mountain range might affect the earth's climate?

Just off the top of my head, I'd venture a guesstimate of a few more tens of millions of years, with a greater southern extension of the polar cap (if it still exists then).

...I'm assuming that North and South America broke off from Europe and Africa - that the Rocky Mountains and Andean Mountains are a result of this movement, and that the Atlantic Ocean is still continuing to widen... (?)

...Also, I'm guessing that a major upthrusting of mountains might result in something like the glacier covering Greenland...

Answer 1

Um, I have to break it to you but there is not currently a subduction zone between the Alaska and Siberia. They are not moving towards each other at all, so there is no way to create that sort of estimation.

The Himalayans and the Tibetan Plateau are the major reason for the Monsoons in South Asia.

On your last question. In the long term climate models, besides the Milankovitch cycles we have very little clue how climate works. So there is no real way to answer if there will be a polar ice cap.