A recent study reveals that a chunk of ancient oceanic crust beneath the Midwest is pulling parts of North America's crust into the Earth's mantle.

WORLD NEWS By Aniket Chakraborty Apr 12, 2025 Arrow

This underground process, known as cratonic thinning, creates massive 'drips' beneath the continent, stretching from Michigan to Alabama.

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The Farallon slab, a leftover tectonic plate that once pushed under North America, is causing this phenomenon.

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Despite the slab breaking apart 20 million years ago, one large piece remains beneath the Midwest, still pulling rock downward.

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This pull is thinning the base of the continent, a process scientists had never witnessed happening in real time until now.

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The team used cutting-edge seismic imaging to reveal how rocks are funneled into the mantle and pulled downward.

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The discovery helps scientists better understand how continents form, break, and are recycled over geological time.

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The process is extremely slow and poses no immediate threat to the surface, with potential to stop as the slab sinks deeper.

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The study's findings could have significant implications for understanding Earth's evolution over millions of years.

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While dramatic, the phenomenon is not a cause for concern, and the process may cease once the Farallon slab sinks deeper.

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