Isostatic depression

Greenland is isostatically depressed by the Greenland ice sheet such that parts of the bedrock surface in the interior are below sea level.
Projected future equilibrium states of Greenland ice sheet[1]

Isostatic depression is the sinking of large parts of the Earth's crust into the asthenosphere caused by a heavy weight placed on the Earth's surface, often glacial ice during continental glaciation.[2] Isostatic depression and isostatic rebound occur at rates of centimeters per year. Greenland is an example of an isostatically depressed region.

  1. ^ Robinson, Alexander; Calov, Reinhard; Ganopolski, Andrey (June 2012). "Multistability and critical thresholds of the Greenland ice sheet". Nature Climate Change. 2 (6): 429–432. Bibcode:2012NatCC...2..429R. doi:10.1038/nclimate1449. ISSN 1758-678X.
  2. ^ Lambeck, Kurt (2009), "Glacial Isostasy", in Gornitz, Vivien (ed.), Encyclopedia of Paleoclimatology and Ancient Environments, Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series, Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands, pp. 374–380, doi:10.1007/978-1-4020-4411-3_93, ISBN 978-1-4020-4551-6