A billion-year-old bedrock core is slowly sinking into the Earth’s mantle

Pieces of North America's oldest and most stable rock are dripping into the Earth ’s mantle.

Researchers say the blame likely falls on the Farallon Plate , a long-subducted tectonic plate still interacting with North America from below.

The good news is that the sinking is happening over geological timescales, not human ones.

Studying why and how North America is sinking will provide us with a valuable window into how the continents continue to evolve.