Unusual Maps

[Anomalocaris]

Any idea how long it takes for a significant tectonic change? I'm pretty damn ignorant on the topic. I'd be interested to see a map from 150,000 or so years ago (or whenever the best estimate is for the emergence of homo sapiens).

I think you mean Plate tectonic change, not just tectonic change. Tectonic change is any large scale change involving the structure of the crust. Plate tectonics is a particular type of tectonics that involves continents moving around horizontally.

You will likely see a fair bit of tectonic change in 150,000 years. For example, coming of glaciers would depress the ground it sits on, and cause large areas of earth to subside. When glaciers melt, land will rebound. Look at Hudson Bay in Canada. It is there because during the ice age the weight of ice in northern canada pressed down on the land until the land subsided below sea level. If ice age does not return in 150,000 years, maybe thanks to global warming, Hudson Bay would likely be all gone, because the land would gradually rebound to their original preglacial altitudes. Before glaciers, Hudson Bay was a large plain. Also, a new island is likely to emerge in the Hawaii.

Results from plate tectonics will be less obvious. North America will move about 2 miles further from Europe and closer to Asia. Australia will move closer to Indonesia by an like amount. India will drive itself about 3 miles further into Tibet. Los Angeles will move about 2 miles closer to San Francisco.