this post was submitted on 18 Jul 2025
498 points (98.8% liked)

Science Memes

20710 readers
1297 users here now

Welcome to c/science_memes @ Mander.xyz!

A place for majestic STEMLORD peacocking, as well as memes about the realities of working in a lab.

Meta Post Tags

Rules

  1. Don't throw mud. Behave like an intellectual and remember the human.
  2. Keep it rooted (on topic).
  3. No spam.
  4. Infographics welcome, get schooled.

If you are here asking: "Is this a science meme?"

Probably, yes. We use the Dawkins definition of meme: a replicating idea, not just an image macro with a fact on it. A good post here doesn't need to teach you something. It needs to make you ask something: who, what, where, when, and especially why or how.

Science isn't a filing cabinet of facts, it's a conversation. For example, a photo of an eel or other localized wildlife counts because most people never see one, and wonder is the first step of inquiry. A car meme counts if it makes you curious about what's under the bonnet. If you want to talk about something you noticed in the world, chances are someone else wants to talk about it too.

We moderate for vibe, not category. Pruning is light, especially where a post creates interesting discussion. Experimenting is encouraged, but keep it in good faith and never punch down.

Research Committee

Other Mander Communities

Science and Research

Biology and Life Sciences

Physical Sciences

Humanities and Social Sciences

Practical and Applied Sciences

Memes

Miscellaneous

founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
Sal@mander.xyz
fossilesque@mander.xyz
SciBot@mander.xyz
fossilesque@lemmy.dbzer0.com
498
Pangaea Proxima (mander.xyz)
submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by fossilesque@mander.xyz to c/science_memes@mander.xyz
87 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] Quantumantics@fedia.io 33 points 1 year ago (2 children)

This scenario is one possible projection; it assumes the eventual development of a subduction zone in the West Atlantic that would overcome the spreading at the mid Atlantic ridge, eventually sealing the basin. I don't understand the mechanisms well enough to know how that prediction was made, so someone with more experience on the subject can chime in.

[–] Sc00ter@lemmy.zip 13 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Im gonna guess, from your response, you have the most experience on the subject of anyone we will find in this thread.

[–] wolframhydroxide@sh.itjust.works 10 points 1 year ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

I'm, unfortunately, likely in the same boat, as far as expertise is concerned. I have a degree in geochemistry, and I agree with your analysis of the assumptions made to produce this model, but all of the projections I've seen until this one suggested the closing of the pacific basin.

Consider that much of the pacific mid-ocean ridge (the only thing preventing the closure of the pacific basin) is already being actively subducted under the eastern pacific boundary. Think about that: the spreading boundary itself is being subducted. This makes one wonder how it would be conceivable that the pacific basin widens in the future, despite the vast majority of the world's active subduction boundaries being along the pacific rim.

[–] Quantumantics@fedia.io 2 points 11 months ago

That stood out to me, too; I wonder if that model assumes the shrinkage of the Pacific reverses when the Atlantic starts to close. strange. I also didn't see them try to account for the rifting in Africa, perhaps they assume that will fail to complete like the North American one did