How come the oceans haven't been absorbed?

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The discussion centers on why Earth's oceans have not been absorbed or leaked into the ground over the past 4.5 billion years, despite tectonic activity that causes the crust to split and close. Key points include the stability of oceanic water due to geological processes, the role of the Earth's mantle in recycling materials, and the balance between water input from volcanic activity and water loss through subduction. The thread has been merged with a previous discussion on the same topic for further exploration of these geological phenomena.
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How come the Earth's oceans didn't get absorbed or slowly leak into the ground over the past 4.5 billion years? Especially when the Earth has tectonic activities and the crust constantly split open and closes...etc.
 
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Thread closed pending merge/cleanup.

Update:
The bulk of the posts in this thread has been moved into Flatland's 18 month old thread on the exact same issue. Here's that old thread, now with new responses: [thread]564079[/thread].

This thread will remain closed.
 
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