The oldest continental crust of the Earth is inexorably being destroyed: Chinese scientists warned of changes.

Scientists have found that cratons are gradually being destroyed

A group of Chinese scientists from the University of Geosciences studied the disintegration of the North China Craton over the last 200 million years. They found that the oldest parts of the continental crust are being destroyed under the influence of natural forces. The scientists' research was published in Nature Geoscience.

Researchers identified two key stages in the destruction of the craton. First, the subduction of the Izanagi oceanic plate under the continental one occurred, leading to crustal thickening and the formation of the Taihangshan mountain range. Then there was a rollback phase of the plate, leading to the thinning of the craton by 26%.

These processes were accompanied by tectonic shifts, the thrusting of old rocks over new ones, and crustal stretching. The final phase of stretching the Earth's crust concluded the decratization process.

Scientists assume that similar processes may occur in other parts of the planet. With the help of computer models, scientists accurately recreated the characteristics of the lithospheric plate and gained insight into the processes occurring in the Earth's interior.