Question

At this rate, how long would it take for two continents 3500 kilometers apart to collide?

Answer 1

Given:

3,500 kilometers

Find:

 

Years for two continents to collide = ?

 

Solution:

We know that typical motions of one plate relative to another are 1 centimeter per year.

So first, we convert 3,500 km to cm.

The solution would be like this for this specific problem:

 

1 km = 100,000 cm

3,500 km x 100,000 = 350,000,000 cm

Since we know that 1 cm = 1 year, then that means 350,000,000 cm is equivalent to 350,000,000 years.

 

Therefore, it would take 350 million years for two continents that are 3500 kilometers apart to collide.

To add, a phenomenon of the plate tectonics of Earth that occurs at convergent boundaries is called the continental collision.