GFZ German research centre for geo sciences

Observable deformations of the Earth's surface are greatest in areas that were previously covered by ice. A well-studied example is the land uplift in northern Scandinavia, an area that was burdened by a 2 to 3 km thick ice sheet at the last glacial maximum. The still ongoing uplift movement with rates reaching 8 mm/per year near at in the former load center is observed by GPS in the BIFROST project (Baseline Inferences for Fennoscandian Rebound Observations, Sea Level and Tectonics)(Davis & members of BIFROST, 1996; Scherneck et al., 2003). However, present-day ice mass changes also lead to an uplift motion that can be interpreted as GIA. It is important to distinguish between direct elastic and delayed viscoelastic deformations, which is particularly relevant in the Antarctic. In addition, the current deformation state caused by GIA influences the stress field in the formerly glaciated regions.

Reference:

Erfani Jazi, Z., Motagh, M., Klemann, V. (2022): Inferring mass loss by measuring contemporaneous deformation around the Helheim Glacier, southeastern Greenland, using Sentinel-1 InSAR. - Remote Sensing, 14, 16, 3956.
https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14163956

Frick, M., Cacace, M., Klemann, V., Tarasov, L., Scheck-Wenderoth, M. (2022): Hydrogeologic and thermal effects of glaciations on the intracontinental basins in central and northern Europe. - Frontiers in Water, 4, 818469. doi.org/10.3389/frwa.2022.818469

Sasgen, I., Martín-Español, A., Horvath, A., Klemann, V., Petrie, E. J., Wouters, B., Horwath, M., Pail, R., Bamber, J. L., Clarke, P. J., Konrad, H., Drinkwater, M. R. (2017): Joint inversion estimate of regional glacial isostatic adjustment in Antarctica considering a laterally varying Earth structure (ESA STSE Project REGINA). - Geophysical Journal International, 211, 3, p. 1534-1553. doi.org/10.1093/gji/ggx368

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