Continental Drift Calculator

Distance between landmasses from plate motion rate and time.

Plate velocity (cm/yr)

Elapsed time (million years)

Initial separation (km)

Future projection (million years)

Tab to move between fields

Drift distance (km)

2,500

Drift distance (miles)1,553.43

Total separation (km)2,500

Future additional drift (km)1,250

Projected separation (km)3,750

Velocity (mm/yr)25

How to Use This Calculator

Enter the Plate velocity (cm/yr) — the Mid-Atlantic Ridge moves ~2.5 cm/yr, the East Pacific Rise ~15 cm/yr.
Set Elapsed time (million years) to model how far the plate has moved since a known geologic event.
Optionally enter an Initial separation (km) if the landmasses started at a known distance apart.
Set Future projection (million years) to forecast where the plate will be in the distant future.
Read Drift distance (km) as the total displacement over the elapsed period, and Projected separation for the future position.

How the result changes with Plate velocity (cm/yr)

Plate velocity (cm/yr): Rate of plate motion in centimeters per year. Mid-Atlantic Ridge ~2.5, East Pacific Rise ~15.
Elapsed time (million years): How far back in time to compute drift, in millions of years.
Initial separation (km): Current or known starting distance between the two plates in kilometers.
Future projection (million years): How many million years into the future to project drift.

Drift distance (km): Total distance the plate has traveled over the elapsed time.
Drift distance (miles): Same drift distance converted to miles.
Total separation (km): Initial separation plus computed drift distance.
Future additional drift (km): Additional distance the plate will drift in the projection period.
Projected separation (km): Total separation after the future projection period.
Velocity (mm/yr): Plate velocity converted to millimeters per year.

Identify Input Parameters
4 parameters
Plate velocity (cm/yr) = 2.5, Elapsed time (million years) = 100, Initial separation (km) = 0, Future projection (million years) = 50 = 4 input(s) provided
Calculate Drift distance
Drift distance = plateVelocity * elapsedTime * 10
2500 = 2500
Calculate Drift distance
Drift distance = driftDistanceKm * 0.621371
1553.43 = 1553.43
Calculate Total separation
Total separation = initialSeparation + driftDistanceKm
2500 = 2500