The Sea Floor Is Sinking

The ocean floor is sinking under the weight of climate change and calculations to determine sea level rise don t take that fact into equation.

The sea floor is sinking.

The results show that the ocean is changing in ways we didn t realize and is sinking further into the earth s crust. If the sea floor is sinking are we safe from sea level rise. This idea played a pivotal role in the development of the theory of plate tectonics which revolutionized geologic thought during the last quarter of the 20th century. Researchers propose a new more accurate method instead.

This theory proposes that the plates are dragged apart by the sinking of cold dense slabs of sea floor along zones of frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. A sinking floor is usually a sign that the floor has begun to rot out from the underside meaning the joists or other elements of the subfloor have failed. Satellite data enables scientists to map the seafloor which is sinking under the weight of rising seas. The enormous mass that gets added to the ocean is causing the sea floor to warp sink and deform.

As a result scientists have underestimated how much sea levels are rising by. Such zones would include the. This can disguise the actual rise of sea levels in many parts of the planet and actually cover up.