Phys.org September 22, 2021
The loss of melting ice from land masses such as Greenland and Antarctica are causing the planet’s crust to warp slightly, even in spots more than 1,000 kilometres from the ice loss. A team of researchers in the US (Harvard University, Columbia University) analyzed satellite data on melt from 2003 to 2018 and studied changes in Earth’s crust to measure the shifting of the crust horizontally. They found that in some places the crust was moving more horizontally than it was lifting. They demonstrated that mass changes in the Greenland Ice Sheet and high latitude glacier systems each generated average crustal motion of 0.1–0.4 mm/yr across much of the Northern Hemisphere, with significant year-to-year variability in magnitude and direction. Horizontal motions associated with ice-mass loss exceed vertical rates in many far-field areas, and both should be considered in future analysis of Global Navigational Satellite System measurements. According to the researchers understanding all the factors that cause movement of the crust are important for a wide range of Earth science problems. To accurately observe tectonic motions and earthquake activity, we need to be able to separate out this motion generated by modern-day ice-mass loss…read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE  1  , Open Access 2Â
Predicted average crustal deformation rates generated by ice-mass loss across the Greenland Ice Sheet from 2003–2018… Credit: Geophysical Research Letters, 16 August 2021Â