sinking a slow fall or decline (as for lack of strength); "after several hours of sinking an unexpected rally rescued the market"; "he could not control the sinking of his legs"
Settling is the process by which particulates settle to the bottom of a liquid and form a sediment. Particles that experience a force, either due to gravity or due to centrifugal motion will tend to move in a uniform manner in the direction exerted by that force. For gravity settling, this means that the particles will tend to fall to the bottom of the vessel, forming a slurry at the vessel base.
OmegaWiki Dictionary
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settling The sudden sinking or gradual downward settling of the Earth's surface with little or no horizontal motion. The movement is not restricted in rate, magnitude, or area involved. Subsidence may be caused by natural geologic processes, such as solution, thawing, compaction, slow crustal warping, or withdrawal of fluid lava from beneath a solid crust; or by man's activity, such as subsurface mining or the pumping of oil or ground water.
