Mantle viscosity from the simultaneous inversion of multiple data sets pertaining to postglacial rebound

Abstract

We employ the formalism of Bayesian inference to invert three distinct data sets related to the phenomenon of glacial isostatic adjustment. These data consist, respectively, of the wavenumber spectrum of relaxation times for Fennoscandian rebound inferred by McConnell (1968), the characteristic relaxation times for a large collection of distinct 14C dated relative sea level curves from both Canada and Fennoscandia, and two data related to the rotational response of the Earth to the glaciation‐deglaciation cycle of the late Pleistocene ice age. Our analyses show that the spherically symmetric viscosity structure objectively inferred on the basis of these data from the once glaciated regions of the Northern Hemisphere allows a fully satisfactory reconciliation of both US East Coast relative sea level observations as well as providing a close fit to the requirements of aspherical geoid anomalies.