Abstract
AbstractEarth is 180 Myr into the current supercontinent cycle, and the next supercontinent is predicted to form in 250 Myr. The continuous changes in continental configuration can move the ocean between resonant states, and the semidiurnal tides are currently large compared to the past 252 Myr due to tidal resonance in the Atlantic. This leads to the hypothesis that there is a “supertidal” cycle linked to the supercontinent cycle. Here this is tested using new tectonic predictions for the next 250 Myr as bathymetry in a numerical tidal model. The simulations support the following hypothesis: a new tidal resonance will appear 150 Myr from now, followed by a decreasing tide as the supercontinent forms 100 Myr later. This affects the dissipation of tidal energy in the oceans, with consequences for the evolution of the Earth‐Moon system, ocean circulation and climate, and implications for the ocean's capacity of hosting and evolving life.
Highlights
The Earth moves through a cyclic dispersion and aggregation of supercontinents over a period of 400–500 Myr, in what is known as the Supercontinent cycle [Nance et al., 1988; Rogers and Santosh, 2003; Matthews et al, 2016]
Thisresonant state has led to increased global tidal dissipation rates, which were further enhanced during glacial low stands in sea-level [Egbert et al, 2004; Arbic and Garrett, 2010; Griffiths and Peltier, 2008; Green, 2010; Wilmes and Green, 2014; Green et al, 2017]
We did a series of sensitivity simulations for both bathymetries in which the tidal conversion coefficient was changed within a factor of 2, and the root mean square errors (RMSEs) and dissipation rates did not change sigsimulations, along with the future time slices
Summary
The Earth moves through a cyclic dispersion and aggregation of supercontinents over a period of 400–500 Myr, in what is known as the Supercontinent cycle [Nance et al., 1988; Rogers and Santosh, 2003; Matthews et al, 2016]. The exception is the past 2 Myr, during which the continental configuration has led to a tidal resonance in the Atlantic [e.g., Platzman, 1975; Green, 2010]. This (near-)resonant state has led to increased global tidal dissipation rates, which were further enhanced during glacial low stands in sea-level [Egbert et al, 2004; Arbic and Garrett, 2010; Griffiths and Peltier, 2008; Green, 2010; Wilmes and Green, 2014; Green et al, 2017]. An ocean basin can house resonant tides when the width of
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