Glacial Isostatic Adjustment Models Research Articles

Patterns of Holocene relative sea level change in the North of Britain and Ireland

Temporal and spatial patterns of relative sea level (RSL) change in the North of Britain and Ireland during the Holocene are examined. Four episodes, each defined by marked changes in the RSL trend, are identified. Each episode is marked by a rise to a culminating shoreline followed by a fall. Episode HRSL-1 dates from the Younger Dryas to early in the Holocene; HRSL-2 to HRSL-4 occurred later in the Holocene. There is extensive evidence for each episode, and on this basis the spatial distribution of the altitude data for three culminating shorelines and a shoreline formed at the time of the Holocene Storegga Slide tsunami (ca 8110 ± 100 cal. BP) is analysed. Ordinary Kriging is used to determine the general pattern, following which Gaussian Trend Surface Analysis is employed. Recognising that empirical measurements of RSL change can be unevenly distributed spatially, a new approach is introduced which enables the developing pattern to be identified. The patterns for the most widely occurring shorelines were analysed and found to be similar and common centre and axis models were developed for all shorelines. The analyses described provide models of the spatial pattern of Holocene RSL change in the area between ca 8100 cal. BP and ca 1000 cal. BP based on 2262 high resolution shoreline altitude measurements. These models fit the data closely, no shoreline altitude measurement lying more than −1.70 m or +1.82 m from the predicted value. The models disclose a similar pattern to a recently published Glacial Isostatic Adjustment model for present RSL change across the area, indicating that the overall spatial pattern of RSL change may not have varied greatly during the last ca 8000 years.

Towards the inversion of GRACE gravity fields for present-day ice-mass changes and glacial-isostatic adjustment in North America and Greenland

We perform an inversion of gravity fields from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) (August 2002 to August 2009) of four processing centres for glacial-isostatic adjustment (GIA) over North America and present-day ice-mass change in Alaska and Greenland. We apply a statistical filtering approach to reduce noise in the GRACE data by confining our investigations to GRACE coefficients containing a statistically significant linear trend. Selecting the subset of reliable coefficients in all GRACE time series (GFZ RL04, ITG 2010, JPL RL04 and CSR RL04) results in a non-isotropic smoothing of the GRACE gravity fields, which is effective in reducing the north-south oriented striping associated with correlated errors in GRACE coefficients. In a next step, forward models of GIA induced by the glacial history NAWI (Zweck and Huybrechts, 2005), as well as present-day ice mass changes in Greenland from ICESat (Sørensen et al., 2011) and Alaska from airborne laser altimetry (Arendt et al., 2002) are simultaneously adjusted in scale to minimize the misfit to the filtered GRACE trends. From the adjusted models, we derive the recent sea-level contributions for Greenland and Alaska (August 2002 to August 2009), and, interpret the residual misfit over the GIA-dominated region around the Hudson Bay, Canada, in terms of mantle viscosities beneath North America.

ITRF2008 contribution to glacial isostatic adjustment and recent ice melting assessment

We investigate what information station vertical velocities of the ITRF2008 provide on global geodetic parameters and by extension on glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) and recent ice melting (RIM) processes. We infer degree‐2 spherical harmonic coefficients (SHC) of the Earth figure change and theJ2 gravity rate (J˙2), which we compare with five GIA models. We find J˙2 to be (0.0 ± 2.4) × 10−11 yr−1, which is consistent with recent studies that propose a J˙2 change in the 1990s, due to RIM whose contribution to the J˙2 would be today around (3.5–4.0 ± 2.4) × 10−11 yr−1. Such results favor Peltier (2004) VM2 or Paulson et al. (2007) GIA models. The ITRF2008 SHC that are directly impacted by the GIA rotational feedback, confirm with a good precision recent results from GRACE mission that initiated a debate on GIA rotational feedback and about Peltier GIA model quality. We find a coefficient consistent with Paulson's (and other) model and more than 7 times smaller than coefficients in Peltier's models. Two explanations are possible: (1) if the model of Peltier (2004) VM2 were to be correct, then the strong rotational feedback in the model must be counteracted by a strong rotational feedback in the opposite direction generated by current ice loss, (2) if the model of Paulson et al. (2007) were to be correct, therefore GIA and RIM separately induce negligible rotational feedbacks. Both answers are quite extreme and call for more investigation on GIA modeling and rotational feedback.

Absolute gravity calibration of GPS velocities and glacial isostatic adjustment in mid-continent North America

[1] We examine absolute gravity (AG) and vertical Global Positioning System (GPS) time series between 1995 and 2010 at eight collocated sites in mid-continent North America. The comparison of AG and GPS rates aligned to ITRF2005 yields a gravity/uplift ratio of −0.17 ± 0.01μGal mm−1 (1 μGal = 10 nm s−2) and an intercept of −0.1 ± 0.5 mm yr−1. In contrast, aligning the GPS velocities to ITRF2000 results in a gravity/uplift intercept of −1.3 ± 0.5 mm yr−1. The near-zero gravity/uplift offset for the ITRF2005 (or ITRF2008) results shows a good alignment of the GPS vertical velocities to Earth's center of mass, and confirms that GPS velocities in this reference frame can be compared to predictions of geodynamic processes such as glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) or sea-level rise. The observed gravity/uplift ratio is consistent with GIA model predictions. The ratio remains constant in regions of fast and slow uplift, indicating that GIA is the primary driving process and that additional processes such as local hydrology have a limited impact on a decadal time-scale. Combining AG and GPS measurements can provide significant constraints for geodetic, geodynamic, and hydrological studies.

A deglacial model for Antarctica: geological constraints and glaciological modelling as a basis for a new model of Antarctic glacial isostatic adjustment

We present a new reconstruction of the Antarctic Ice Sheets between 20 ka BP and the present day. Our reconstruction is derived using a numerical model to generate a physically-consistent ice surface across the whole of the continent. We define the extent of the ice sheet at five time slices; 20, 15, 10, 5 and 0 ka BP, assuming an equilibrium state for the 20 ka BP time slice, and a transient state for the deglacial time slices. The evolution of the ice sheet within the numerical model is driven by variations in temperature, accumulation rate, and relative sea level. In order to reconstruct the concave profile of the ice sheet in marine-grounded regions, such as the Ross and Weddell Seas, we force our model to develop channels of faster flow by defining greater basal sliding along the trajectory of former ice streams. We find a strong dependence upon the basal sliding parameters, and also the position of the grounding line. We use an extensive data base of geological and glaciological data to constrain our ice-sheet reconstruction. Grounding-line extent is prescribed from marine geological data and we test ice-sheet thickness against onshore geological data at 62 sites. Of the five time slices considered, our 20 ka BP reconstruction is the best constrained by data and has an RMS misfit of 147.6 m when compared to observations of ice thickness change between 20 ka BP and the present day. Across all time slices there are large regions of the ice-sheet which are poorly constrained, especially after 20 ka BP. We estimate the spatial distribution of uncertainty in our ice-sheet reconstruction, and note that the solutions are least reliable in regions of complex topography. We predict that the Antarctic Ice Sheets contributed 9 ± 1.5 m of eustatic sea level to the global ocean between 20 ka BP and the present, and our reconstruction with minimum misfit contributes ∼8 m eustatic sea level during this period. These values, which we argue are an upper bound, are lower than many previous estimates. The reconstructed pattern of ice unloading can serve as a new input for glacial isostatic models.

Analysis of GPS Measurements in Eastern Canada Using Principal Component Analysis

Continuous Global Positioning System (CGPS) position time series from eastern North America constrain the pattern and magnitude of regional crustal deformation. Initial analysis delineates consistent uplift patterns, as expected from glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) predictions, but the associated horizontal deformation is not definitive, in part due to the short time periods for a significant number of the available stations. We employ an eigenpattern decomposition in order to define a unique, finite set of deformation patterns for this continuous GPS data. Similar in nature to the empirical orthogonal functions historically employed in the analysis of atmospheric and oceanographic phenomena, the method derives the eigenvalues and eigenstates from the diagonalization of the correlation matrix using a Karhunen–Loeve expansion (KLE). The KLE technique is used to identify the important modes in both time and space for the CGPS data, modes that potentially include signals such as horizontal and vertical GIA, tectonic strain, and seasonal effects. Here we filter both the vertical and horizontal velocity patterns on different spatiotemporal scales in order to study the potential geophysical sources, after the removal of correlated and random noise. The method is successful in disaggregating the linear vertical signal from more variable and less spatially correlated signals. The vertical and horizontal results are compared to the predictions of the ICE-3G GIA loading model with a number of plausible mantle viscosity profiles. The horizontal velocity analysis allows for qualitative differentiation between several potential GIA models and suggests that, with longer time series, this technique can be employed to remove correlated noise and improve estimates of crustal strain patterns and their sources.

Widespread low rates of Antarctic glacial isostatic adjustment revealed by GPS observations

Bedrock uplift in Antarctica is dominated by a combination of glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) and elastic response to contemporary mass change. Here, we present spatially extensive GPS observations of Antarctic bedrock uplift, using 52% more stations than previous studies, giving enhanced coverage, and with improved precision. We observe rapid elastic uplift in the northern Antarctic Peninsula. After considering elastic rebound, the GPS data suggests that modeled or empirical GIA uplift signals are often over?estimated, par t icularly the magnitudes of the signal maxima. Our observation that GIA uplift is misrepresented by modeling (weighted root?meansquares of observation?model differences: 4.9–5.0 mm/yr) suggests that, apart from a few regions where large ice mass loss is occurring, the spatial pattern of secular ice mass change derived from Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) data and GIA models may be unreliable, and that several recent secular Antarctic ice mass loss estimates are systematically biased, mainly too high.

Estimating geoid height change in North America: past, present and future

The forthcoming GRAV-D gravimetric geoid model over the United States is to be updated regularly to account for changes in geoid height. Its baseline precision is to be at the 10–20 mm level over non-mountainous regions. The aim of this study is to provide an estimate of the magnitude, time scale, and spatial footprint of geoid height change over North America, from mass redistribution processes of hydrologic, cryospheric and solid Earth nature. Geoid height changes from continental water storage changes over the past 50 years and predicted over the next century are evaluated and are highly dependent on the used model. Groundwater depletion from anthropogenic pumping in regional scale aquifers may lead to geoid changes of 10 mm magnitude every 50–100 years. The GRACE time varying gravity fields are used to (i) assess the errors in a glacial isostatic adjustment model, which, if used to correct the GRAV-D model, may induce errors at the 10 mm geoid height level after ~20 years, (ii), evaluate geoid height change over ice mass loss regions of North America, which, if they remain unchanged in the future, may lead to geoid height changes at the 10 mm level in under a decade and (iii), compute sea level rise and its effect on the geoid, which is found to be negligible. Coseismic gravitational changes from past North American earthquakes are evaluated, and lead to geoid change at the 10-mm level for only the largest thrust earthquakes. Finally, geoid change from volcanic processes are assessed and found to be significant with respect to the GRAV-D geoid model baseline precision for cataclysmic events, such as that of the 1980 Mt. St. Helens eruption. Recommendations on how to best monitor geoid change in the future are given.

Correction to “Long‐term and recent changes in sea level in the Falkland Islands”

In the paper “Long-term and recent changes in sea level in the Falkland Islands” by P. L. Woodworth et al. (Journal of Geophysical Research, 115, C09025, doi:10.1029/2010JC006113, 2010), in paragraph 47 we adopted a value of −0.52 mm/yr for the estimated rate of present-day sea level change in the Falkland Islands due to glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA). This value was used to remove the contributions of GIA to our measurements of historical and recent rates of sea level change. However, it was based on a misreading of the data file of Peltier [2004] on the Permanent Service for Mean Sea Level Web site (http://www.psmsl.org/train_and_info/geo_signals/gia/peltier). More reasonable values to apply to the observed changes since the mid-nineteenth century and in recent years would be −0.69 and −0.61 mm/yr respectively. Consequently, the long-term rate of sea level change between 1842 and the early 1980s, after correction for air pressure effects and for GIA, reported as +0.75 ± 0.35 mm/yr in paragraphs 1, 47, 55, and 61 should be +0.92 ± 0.35 mm/yr, the corresponding rate between 1842 and the midpoint of recent data of 1.06 ± 0.22 mm/yr in paragraphs 48 and 55 should be 1.23 ± 0.22 mm/yr, and the corresponding rate since 1992 reported as 2.51 ± 0.58 mm/yr in paragraphs 1 and 52 becomes 2.60 ± 0.58 mm/yr. The middle of paragraph 63 becomes “The Stanley data suggest that the rate of change of sea level in East Falkland since 1992 has been approximately 2.6 mm/yr, a rate supported by information from satellite altimetry.” These small GIA model corrections have no bearing on the main findings of our paper on the difference in the rates of sea level change between the historical (1842 to present-day) and recent (last 2 decades) epochs

High-resolution numerical modeling of tides in the western Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean Sea during the Holocene

[1] Tidal constituents and datums are computed on a high resolution grid of the northwestern Atlantic Ocean, including the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. A global model is used to determine tidal parameters on a grid with a nominal resolution of 800 × 800. The global model includes self-attraction and loading, drag in shallow marginal seas, and internal tide drag in the deep ocean. Simulations are performed at 1000 year intervals during the Holocene (10,000 calibrated years before present (10 ka)) in combination with changes in bathymetry and coastline location derived from a glacial isostatic adjustment model. The global model results are then used to force a regional barotropic tidal model. The regional model uses an unstructured finite element grid, with very high resolution at the coastline. The model results reveal significant variations in tidal constituent amplitudes throughout the Holocene. In the northwestern Atlantic, semi-diurnal components show a strong amplification at around 9 ka while in the Gulf of Mexico, the response is much more muted. Variations in diurnal tidal parameters are found to be less significant than semi-diurnal parameters throughout the model domain. Changes in tidal range, of great relevance to changes in relative sea level (RSL), are also investigated throughout the Holocene. The overall structure is similar to the patterns observed in the M2 tide, with peak increases of 200–300%, relative to present-day, being observed along the east coast of the United States from 9 to 8 ka. Finally, the high spatial resolution of the regional model allows for the investigation of tidal changes at spatial scales (e.g., individual bays) much smaller than in previous studies.

Radial and tangential gravity rates from GRACE in areas of glacial isostatic adjustment

In areas dominated by Glacial Isostatic Adjustment (GIA), the free-air gravity anomaly rate can be converted to uplift rate to good approximation by using a simple spectral relation. We provide quantitative comparisons between gravity rates derived from monthly gravity field solutions (GFZ Potsdam, CSR Texas, IGG Bonn) from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite mission with uplift rates measured by GPS in these areas. The band-limited gravity data from the GRACE satellite mission can be brought to very good agreement with the point data from GPS by using scaling factors derived from a GIA model (the root-mean-square of differences is 0.55 mm yr-1 for a maximum uplift rate signal of 10 mm yr-1). The root-mean-square of the differences between GRACE derived uplift rates and GPS derived uplift rates decreases with increasing GRACE time period to a level below the uncertainty that is expected from GRACE observations, GPS measurements and the conversion from gravity rate to uplift rate. With the current length of time-series (more than 8 yr) applying filters and a hydrology correction to the GRACE data does not reduce the root-mean-square of differences significantly. The smallest root-mean-square was obtained with the GFZ solution in Fennoscandia and with the CSR solution in North America. With radial gravity rates in excellent agreement with GPS uplift rates, more information on the GIA process can be extracted from GRACE gravity field solutions in the form of tangential gravity rates, which are equivalent to a rate of change in the deflection of the vertical scaled by the magnitude of gravity rate vector. Tangential gravity rates derived from GRACE point towards the centre of the previously glaciated area, and are largest in a location close to the centre of the former ice sheet. Forward modelling showed that present day tangential gravity rates have maximum sensitivity between the centre and edge of the former ice sheet, while radial gravity rates are most sensitive in the centre of the former ice sheet. As a result, tangential gravity rates offer constraints on a two-layer mantle viscosity profile that are different from radial gravity rates, which can be exploited in future GIA studies.

Reply to Grinsted et al.: Estimating land subsidence in North Carolina

Reconstructions and observations of relative sea level (RSL) must be corrected for vertical land movements from glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) to facilitate comparisons among regions and identify deviations from background rates. Late Holocene (past 2 ka) GIA rates are estimated from geological data and permanent global positioning system (GPS) stations or predicted from GIA models. We used a linear trend fitted to the regional, compaction-free, RSL reconstructions compiled by Engelhart et al. (1) for the past 2 ka (excluding data since AD 1900) as a GIA estimate. Similarly, GIA models also attribute all RSL changes during the past 2 ka to linear GIA and have zero eustatic (e.g., meltwater) contribution.

Relationship between glacial isostatic adjustment and gravity perturbations observed by GRACE

[1] The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment space gravity mission provides one of the principal means of estimating present-day mass loss occurring in polar regions. Extraction of the mass loss signal from the observed gravity changes is complicated by the need to first remove the signal of ongoing glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) since the Last Glacial Maximum. This can be problematic in regions such as Antarctica where the GIA models are poorly constrained by observation and their accuracy is not well known. We present a new methodology that permits the GIA component to be represented mathematically by a simple, linear expression of the ratio of viscoelastic Love numbers that is valid for a broad range of Earth and ice-load models. The expression is shown to reproduce rigorous computations of surface uplift rates to within 0.3 mm/yr, thus providing a means of inverting simultaneously for present-day mass loss and ongoing GIA with all the accuracy of a fully detailed forward model.

Trend of mass change in the Antarctic ice sheet recovered from the GRACE temporal gravity field

It is important to quantify mass variations in the Antarctic ice sheet to study the global sea-level rise and climate change. A hybrid filtering scheme employing a combination of the decorrelated filter P3M6 and 300 km Fan filter was used, and the surface mass variations over the Antarctic are recovered from GRACE CSR RL04 monthly gravity field models from August 2002 to June 2010. After deduction of leakage errors using the GLDAS hydrological model and postglacial rebound effects using the glacial isostatic adjustment model IJ05, the variations in the ice sheet mass are obtained. The results reveal that the rate of melting of the Antarctic ice sheet is 80.0 Gt/a and increasing and contributes 0.22 mm/a to the global sea-level rise; the mass loss rate is 78.3 Gt/a in the West Antarctic and 1.6 Gt/a in the East Antarctic. The average mass loss rate increases from 39.3 Gt/a for the period 2002–2005 to 104.2 Gt/a for the period 2006–2010, and its corresponding contribution to the global sea-level rise increases from 0.11 to 0.29 mm/a, which indicates accelerated ice mass loss over the Antarctic since 2006. Moreover, the mass accumulation rates for Enderby Land and Wilkes Land along the coast of East Antarctica decrease for the period 2006–2008 but increase evidently after 2009.

Identification of Glacial Isostatic Adjustment in Eastern Canada Using S Transform Filtering of GPS Observations

Over the years, a number of different models and techniques have been proposed to both quantify and explain the glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) process. There are serious challenges, however, to obtaining accurate results from measurements, due to noise in the data and the long periods of time necessary to identify the relatively small-magnitude signal in certain regions. The primary difficulty, in general, is that most of the geophysical signals that occur in addition to GIA are nonstationary in nature. These signals are also corrupted by random as well as correlated noise added during data acquisition. The nonstationary characteristic of the data makes it difficult for traditional frequency-domain denoising approaches to be effective. Time–frequency filters present a more robust and reliable alternative to deal with this problem. This paper proposes an extended S transform filtering approach to separate the various signals and isolate that associated with GIA. Continuous global positioning system (GPS) data from eastern Canada for the period from June 2001 to June 2006 are analyzed here, and the vertical velocities computed after filtering are consistent with the GIA models put forward by other researchers.

A new Holocene relative sea level curve for the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica

Precise relative sea level (RSL) data are important for inferring regional ice sheet histories, as well as helping to validate numerical models of ice sheet evolution and glacial isostatic adjustment. Here we develop a new RSL curve for Fildes Peninsula, South Shetland Islands (SSIs), a sub-Antarctic archipelago peripheral to the northern Antarctic Peninsula ice sheet, by integrating sedimentary evidence from isolation basins with geomorphological evidence from raised beaches. This combined approach yields not only a Holocene RSL curve, but also the spatial pattern of how RSL change varied across the archipelago. The curve shows a mid-Holocene RSL highstand on Fildes Peninsula at 15.5 m above mean sea level between 8000 and 7000 cal a BP. Subsequently RSL gradually fell as a consequence of isostatic uplift in response to regional deglaciation. We propose that isostatic uplift occurred at a non-steady rate, with a temporary pause in ice retreat ca. 7200 cal a BP, leading to a short-lived RSL rise of ∼1 m and forming a second peak to the mid-Holocene highstand. Two independent approaches were taken to constrain the long-term tectonic uplift rate of the SSIs at 0.22–0.48 m/ka, placing the tectonic contribution to the reconstructed RSL highstand between 1.4 and 2.9 m. Finally, we make comparisons to predictions from three global sea level models.

Implementation of the glacial rebound prestress advection correction in general-purpose finite element analysis software: Springs versus foundations

When general-purpose finite element analysis software is used to model glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA), the first-order effect of prestress advection has to be accounted for by the user. We show here that the common use of elastic foundations at boundaries between materials of different densities will produce incorrect displacements, unless the boundary is perpendicular to the direction of gravity. This is due to the foundations always acting perpendicular to the surface to which they are attached, while the body force they represent always acts in the direction of gravity. If prestress advection is instead accounted for by the use of elastic spring elements in the direction of gravity, the representation will be correct. The use of springs adds a computation of the spring constants to the analysis. The spring constant for a particular node is defined by the product of the density contrast at the boundary, the gravitational acceleration, and the area supported by the node. To be consistent with the finite element formulation, the area is evaluated by integration of the nodal shape functions. We outline an algorithm for the calculation and include a Python script that integrates the shape functions over a bilinear quadrilateral element. For linear rectangular and triangular elements, the area supported by each node is equal to the element area divided the number of defining nodes, thereby simplifying the computation. This is, however, not true in the general nonrectangular case, and we demonstrate this with a simple 1-element model. The spring constant calculation is simple and performed in the preprocessing stage of the analysis. The time spent on the calculation is more than compensated for by a shorter analysis time, compared to that for a model with foundations. We illustrate the effects of using springs versus foundations with a simple two-dimensional GIA model of glacial loading, where the Earth model has an inclined boundary between the overlying elastic layer and the lower viscoelastic layer. Our example shows that the error introduced by the use of foundations is large enough to affect an analysis based on high-accuracy geodetic data.

The role of glacial isostatic adjustment in the present-day crustal motion and sea levels of East Asia

The aim of this paper is to model and remove the contribution of glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) from the observed crustal velocities and sea-level rates in East Asia, so that the signal from other geological processes such as tectonic uplift or global change can be better revealed. State-of-the-art GIA models that include 3D variations in mantle viscosity and lithospheric thickness are employed in this study. Uncertainties of the GIA response are estimated from different ice history and background viscosity models. It is demonstrated that the uncertainties in the GIA response in East Asia are generally small compared with the response itself. For example, the land uplift rate near the east coast of China due to GIA has magnitudes of about 0.1 mm/yr while the uncertainties are generally less than 0.04 mm/yr. These are small compared with the observed magnitude of uplift rate (∼1.0 mm/yr) and the measurement uncertainties of GPS. For the height rates in leveling observation, relative sea-level rates in tide gauge data, absolute seal-level rates from satellite altimetry and tangential velocities from GPS data, the GIA effects are also shown to be generally small compared with observed data. This technique of “cleaning” geodetic data will become more useful in the future when the uncertainties of geodetic measurements can be reduced to less than 0.1 mm/yr.

Holocene relative sea-level changes and glacial isostatic adjustment of the U.S. Atlantic coast

The first quality-controlled Holocene sea-level database for the U.S. Atlantic coast has been constructed from 686 sea-level indicators. The database documents a decreasing rate of relative sea-level (RSL) rise through time with no evidence of sea level being above present in the middle to late Holocene. The highest rates of RSL rise are found in the mid-Atlantic region. We employ the database to constrain an ensemble of glacial isostatic adjustment models using two ice (ICE-5G, ICE-6G [global ice sheet reconstructions]) and two mantle viscosity (models VM5a,VM5b [VM—radial variation of viscosity in the sublithospheric mantle]) variations to assess whether the spherically symmetric viscoelastic models are able to survive intercomparison with a more refined database of postglacial RSL history. We identify significant misfits between observations and predictions using ICE-5G with the VM5a viscosity profile. ICE-6G provides some improvement for the northern Atlantic region, but misfits remain elsewhere. Decreasing the upper mantle and transition zone viscosity by a factor of 2 to 0.25 × 10 21 Pa s (VM5b) removes significant discrepancies between observations and predictions along the mid-Atlantic coastline, although misfits remain in the southern Atlantic region. These may be an indication of the importance of laterally heterogeneous viscosity in the upper mantle.

An improved glacial isostatic adjustment model for the British Isles

AbstractThe glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) of the British Isles is of interest due to the constraints that can be provided on key model parameters such as the global meltwater signal, local ice sheet history and viscoelastic earth structure. A number of recent studies have modelled relative sea‐level (RSL) data from this region to constrain model parameters. As indicated in these studies, the sensitivity of these data to both local and global parameters results in a highly non‐unique problem. This study aims to address this inherent non‐uniqueness by combining a previously published British–Irish ice model that is based on the most recent geomorphological data with a new global ice sheet model that provides an accurate prediction of eustatic sea‐level change. In addition, constraints from Global Positioning System (GPS) measurements of present‐day vertical land motion are considered alongside the entirety of RSL data from both Great Britain and Ireland. A model solution is found that provides a high‐quality fit to both the RSL data and the GPS data. Within the range of earth viscosity values considered, the optimal data model fits were achieved with a relatively thin lithosphere (71 km), upper mantle viscosities in the range 4–6 × 1020 Pa s and lower mantle viscosities ≥ 3 × 1022 Pa s. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.