Long-wavelength gravity field constraint on the lower mantle viscosity
in North America
Abstract
The long-wavelength negative gravity anomaly over Hudson Bay coincides
with the area depressed by the Laurentide ice sheet during the Last
Glacial Maximum, suggesting that it is, at least partly, caused by
Glacial Isostatic Adjustment (GIA). Additional contributions to the
static gravity field stem from dynamic topography and density anomalies
in the subsurface. Previous estimates of the contribution of GIA to the
gravity anomaly range from 25 percent to more than 80 percent. However,
these estimates did not include uncertainties in all components that
contribute to the gravity field. In this study, we develop a forward
model for the gravity anomaly. We combine density anomalies, isostatic
balance, and non-isostatic contributions from GIA and dynamic
topography. The largest uncertainty in the predicted gravity anomaly is
due to the lower mantle viscosity; uncertainties in the ice history, the
crustal model, the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary and the conversion
from seismic velocities to density are found to have a smaller effect. A
preference for lower mantle viscosities >10^22 Pa s is
found, in which case at least 60 percent of the observed long-wavelength
gravity anomaly can be attributed to GIA. This lower bound on the lower
mantle viscosity has implications for models employing a viscosity
profile in the mantle, such as models for mantle convection and GIA, and
inferences based on these models.