---
title: "New Research: The Oceans Are Slowly Leaking Into the Earth"
description: "## Drain Plug"
date: "2019-05-24"
modified: "2019-05-24"
authors:
  - name: "Jon Christian"
    job_title: "Executive Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/oceans-leaking-earth"
categories:
  - "Science & Energy"
tags:
  - "earth"
  - "ocean"
  - "pangaea"
  - "the digest"
---

# New Research: The Oceans Are Slowly Leaking Into the Earth

![The Earth's oceans are gradually leaking into the interior of the Earth — though nowhere near fast enough to cancel out climate change.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/new-research-the-oceans-are-slowly-leaking-into-the-earth.png>)
*\<em\>Image: NASA/Victor Tangermann\</em\>*

## Drain Plug

The Earth's oceans are gradually leaking into the interior of the planet.

That's according to new research by Norwegian scientists, who [told *New Scientist*](<https://www.newscientist.com/article/2204528-the-oceans-are-very-slowly-draining-into-the-rock-below-earths-crust/>) that the Earth's water is slowly draining into the planet's crust — though nowhere near fast enough to cancel out the sea level rises we're currently experiencing because of climate change.

## Rapid Subduction

The new research, [published](<https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/2019GC008232>) in the journal *Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems,* found that the rate at which the oceans are draining into the Earth spiked about 150 million years ago — when the supercontinent Pangaea split up.

"You have much more rapid subduction when you break up a supercontinent," University of Oslo researcher Krister Karlsen told *New Scientist*. "The rapid subduction is crucial for bringing water in hydrated rock deep into the mantle."

## Prognosis

At their current rate, according to *New Scientist*, the oceans will be completely sucked dry in about 12 billion years.

But that doesn't mean there's any cause for concern, the magazine points out: the Sun itself will be long gone by then.

**READ MORE:** [The oceans are very slowly draining into the rock below Earth's crust](<https://www.newscientist.com/article/2204528-the-oceans-are-very-slowly-draining-into-the-rock-below-earths-crust/>) \[*New Scientist*\]

**More on the oceans:** *[Diver Reaches Record Ocean Depth — and Finds a Plastic Bag](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/diver-deep-sea-finds-plastic-bag>)*

## Author
I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/jonchristian.net>)