Glacial Isostatic Adjustment

Abstract

Viscoelastic deformation of the Earth in response to the loading and unloading of changing ice sheets—a process called Glacial Isostatic Adjustment (GIA)—complicates the link between cryospheric changes and sea-level changes and causes various feedbacks on ice-sheet evolution. This chapter details these interactions and describes the mathematical models used to determine the spatiotemporal pattern of GIA and the associated sea-level changes. Specific topics covered include solid Earth rheology, the GIA calculation in a spherical formulation, eustatic and isostatic factors of sea-level variations, and the inference of past/recent ice sheet changes from sea-level records.