Is Washington Really Sinking? Study Says Yes And It Is Happening Fast!

Is this a metaphor for the nation or is the U.S. capital's land really sinking?

The land on which Chesapeake Bay rests is reportedly sinking rapidly in that Washington DC could "drop by six or more inches in the next century, adding to the problems of sea-level rise," Economic Times said.

"The first-ever detailed estimate from geological drilling in the coastal plain of Maryland shows that the US capital faces half-foot drop by 2100," the publication added.

Chesapeake Bay is currently the largest estuary in the country, with a sea level that has been observed to be "rising at twice the global average rate and faster than elsewhere on the East Coast" in the last 60 years, based on the data accumulated by tide gauges.

The sinking was confirmed by a study conducted by a team of geologists from the University of Vermont, as well as the U.S. Geological Survey, and other institutions, according to Science Daily. The findings of their research was featured in the journal GSA Today.

For many years, geologists have suspected that land in the Chesapeake area was supported by a pre-historic ice sheet in the north. However, with the ice melting through the years, the land appeared to be "settling back down." The recent study revealed how rapidly the drop is occurring.

"The researchers' detailed field data make clear that the land sinking around Washington is not primarily driven by human influence, such as groundwater withdrawals, but instead is a long-term geological process that will continue unabated for tens of thousands of years, independent from human land use or climate change," Science Daily explained.

Washington DC's sinking, according to geologists, is also influenced by a "forebulge collapse."

"During the last ice age, a mile-high North American ice sheet, that stretched as far south as Long Island, N.Y., piled so much weight on the Earth that underlying mantle rock flowed slowly outward, away from the ice. In response, the land surface to the south, under the Chesapeake Bay region, bulged up," the science news portal said.

In the last 20,000 years, the ice sheet began to melt, causing the forebulge to sink once more.

"It's a bit like sitting on one side of a water bed filled with very thick honey," Ben DeJong, the lead author of the research, explained. "The other side goes up. But when you stand, the bulge comes down again."

He went on to say that it is necessary to start preparing for the sinking right now, even though the drop is only about half a foot.

"Six extra inches of water really matters in this part of the world," he warned.

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