Reconciliation of the paleo sea-level record with modern crustal uplift
of Greenland
Abstract
The observed crustal uplift rates in Greenland are caused by the
combined response of the solid Earth to both ongoing and past surface
mass changes. Existing elastic Earth models and Maxwell linear
viscoelastic GIA (glacial isostatic adjustment) models together
underpredict the observed uplift rates. These models do not capture the
ongoing mantle deformation induced by significant ice melting since the
Little Ice Age. Using a simple Earth model within a Bayesian framework,
we show that this recent mass loss can explain the data-model misfits
but only when a reduced mantle strength is considered. The inferred
viscosity for sub-centennial timescale mantle deformation is roughly one
order of magnitude smaller than the upper mantle viscosity inferred from
GIA analysis of geological sea-level data. Reconciliation of geological
sea-level and modern crustal motion data may require that the model
effective viscosity be treated with greater sophistication than in the
simple Maxwell rheological paradigm.