The effect of sediment loading in Fennoscandia and the Barents Sea during the last glacial cycle on glacial isostatic adjustment observations
Models for glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) routinely include the effects of meltwater redistribution and changes in topography and coastlines. Since the sediment transport related to the dynamics of ice sheets may be comparable to that of sea level rise in terms of surface pressure, the loading e...
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2017
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:58e6da15a5ab4dd5be847f3d9e98b69e 2023-05-15T15:38:53+02:00 The effect of sediment loading in Fennoscandia and the Barents Sea during the last glacial cycle on glacial isostatic adjustment observations W. van der Wal T. IJpelaar 2017-09-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/se-8-955-2017 https://doaj.org/article/58e6da15a5ab4dd5be847f3d9e98b69e EN eng Copernicus Publications https://www.solid-earth.net/8/955/2017/se-8-955-2017.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1869-9510 https://doaj.org/toc/1869-9529 doi:10.5194/se-8-955-2017 1869-9510 1869-9529 https://doaj.org/article/58e6da15a5ab4dd5be847f3d9e98b69e Solid Earth, Vol 8, Pp 955-968 (2017) Geology QE1-996.5 Stratigraphy QE640-699 article 2017 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/se-8-955-2017 2022-12-31T12:25:05Z Models for glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) routinely include the effects of meltwater redistribution and changes in topography and coastlines. Since the sediment transport related to the dynamics of ice sheets may be comparable to that of sea level rise in terms of surface pressure, the loading effect of sediment deposition could cause measurable ongoing viscous readjustment. Here, we study the loading effect of glacially induced sediment redistribution (GISR) related to the Weichselian ice sheet in Fennoscandia and the Barents Sea. The surface loading effect and its effect on the gravitational potential is modeled by including changes in sediment thickness in the sea level equation following the method of Dalca et al. (2013). Sediment displacement estimates are estimated in two different ways: (i) from a compilation of studies on local features (trough mouth fans, large-scale failures, and basin flux) and (ii) from output of a coupled ice–sediment model. To account for uncertainty in Earth's rheology, three viscosity profiles are used. It is found that sediment transport can lead to changes in relative sea level of up to 2 m in the last 6000 years and larger effects occurring earlier in the deglaciation. This magnitude is below the error level of most of the relative sea level data because those data are sparse and errors increase with length of time before present. The effect on present-day uplift rates reaches a few tenths of millimeters per year in large parts of Norway and Sweden, which is around the measurement error of long-term GNSS (global navigation satellite system) monitoring networks. The maximum effect on present-day gravity rates as measured by the GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment) satellite mission is up to tenths of microgal per year, which is larger than the measurement error but below other error sources. Since GISR causes systematic uplift in most of mainland Scandinavia, including GISR in GIA models would improve the interpretation of GNSS and GRACE observations there. Article in Journal/Newspaper Barents Sea Fennoscandia Ice Sheet Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Barents Sea Norway Solid Earth 8 5 955 968 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Geology QE1-996.5 Stratigraphy QE640-699 |
spellingShingle |
Geology QE1-996.5 Stratigraphy QE640-699 W. van der Wal T. IJpelaar The effect of sediment loading in Fennoscandia and the Barents Sea during the last glacial cycle on glacial isostatic adjustment observations |
topic_facet |
Geology QE1-996.5 Stratigraphy QE640-699 |
description |
Models for glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) routinely include the effects of meltwater redistribution and changes in topography and coastlines. Since the sediment transport related to the dynamics of ice sheets may be comparable to that of sea level rise in terms of surface pressure, the loading effect of sediment deposition could cause measurable ongoing viscous readjustment. Here, we study the loading effect of glacially induced sediment redistribution (GISR) related to the Weichselian ice sheet in Fennoscandia and the Barents Sea. The surface loading effect and its effect on the gravitational potential is modeled by including changes in sediment thickness in the sea level equation following the method of Dalca et al. (2013). Sediment displacement estimates are estimated in two different ways: (i) from a compilation of studies on local features (trough mouth fans, large-scale failures, and basin flux) and (ii) from output of a coupled ice–sediment model. To account for uncertainty in Earth's rheology, three viscosity profiles are used. It is found that sediment transport can lead to changes in relative sea level of up to 2 m in the last 6000 years and larger effects occurring earlier in the deglaciation. This magnitude is below the error level of most of the relative sea level data because those data are sparse and errors increase with length of time before present. The effect on present-day uplift rates reaches a few tenths of millimeters per year in large parts of Norway and Sweden, which is around the measurement error of long-term GNSS (global navigation satellite system) monitoring networks. The maximum effect on present-day gravity rates as measured by the GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment) satellite mission is up to tenths of microgal per year, which is larger than the measurement error but below other error sources. Since GISR causes systematic uplift in most of mainland Scandinavia, including GISR in GIA models would improve the interpretation of GNSS and GRACE observations there. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
W. van der Wal T. IJpelaar |
author_facet |
W. van der Wal T. IJpelaar |
author_sort |
W. van der Wal |
title |
The effect of sediment loading in Fennoscandia and the Barents Sea during the last glacial cycle on glacial isostatic adjustment observations |
title_short |
The effect of sediment loading in Fennoscandia and the Barents Sea during the last glacial cycle on glacial isostatic adjustment observations |
title_full |
The effect of sediment loading in Fennoscandia and the Barents Sea during the last glacial cycle on glacial isostatic adjustment observations |
title_fullStr |
The effect of sediment loading in Fennoscandia and the Barents Sea during the last glacial cycle on glacial isostatic adjustment observations |
title_full_unstemmed |
The effect of sediment loading in Fennoscandia and the Barents Sea during the last glacial cycle on glacial isostatic adjustment observations |
title_sort |
effect of sediment loading in fennoscandia and the barents sea during the last glacial cycle on glacial isostatic adjustment observations |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/se-8-955-2017 https://doaj.org/article/58e6da15a5ab4dd5be847f3d9e98b69e |
geographic |
Barents Sea Norway |
geographic_facet |
Barents Sea Norway |
genre |
Barents Sea Fennoscandia Ice Sheet |
genre_facet |
Barents Sea Fennoscandia Ice Sheet |
op_source |
Solid Earth, Vol 8, Pp 955-968 (2017) |
op_relation |
https://www.solid-earth.net/8/955/2017/se-8-955-2017.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1869-9510 https://doaj.org/toc/1869-9529 doi:10.5194/se-8-955-2017 1869-9510 1869-9529 https://doaj.org/article/58e6da15a5ab4dd5be847f3d9e98b69e |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/se-8-955-2017 |
container_title |
Solid Earth |
container_volume |
8 |
container_issue |
5 |
container_start_page |
955 |
op_container_end_page |
968 |
_version_ |
1766370294724820992 |