Melting polar ice physically distorts the planet



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As the ice melts, the crust appears to warp for hundreds of miles.

Elastic earth

As rising temperatures melt arctic ice at an alarming rate, the resulting rise in sea level will reshape coastlines around the world. But the effects on the planet itself could be even more dramatic, according to a new study on how melting ice is physically reshaping the earth’s crust.

The outermost layer of our planet is surprisingly elastic, according to a study published in the journal Geophysical research letters last month. In the study, Harvard scientists found that the crust rebounds outward after the ice covering it melts, but does not always revert to a perfectly spherical shape.

The study shows that these deformations are not only larger than scientists thought, but also that they can have important influences on ecosystems in a region for thousands of years.

Always recovering

For example, parts of the crust around the Arctic continue to expand like an extremely slow balloon after the weight of the Ice Age – which ended 11,000 years ago – was removed from it. As more ice melts due to climate change, expansions and warping effects are compounded, creating an increasingly complex landscape.

“On recent timescales, we think of the Earth as an elastic structure, like a rubber band, whereas at times scales of thousands of years, the Earth acts more like a very slow fluid.” Harvard planetologist Sophie Coulson said in a press release. “The processes of the Ice Age take a very, very long time to unfold, so we can still see the results today.”

Hills

Being able to follow this hot air balloon is invaluable for scientists. Understanding how the earth changes shape makes it easier to study and predict tectonic movements, earthquakes and other geological processes, Coulson said in the release.

But it also has implications for climate change. As Antarctic ice melts and the crust moves outward, Coulson said, it can warp and displace bedrock out of position, moving the ice further and creating a circle. vicious leading to an even larger melting.

READ MORE: Melting polar ice moves the Earth itself, not just sea level [Harvard University]

Learn more about melting ice: Switzerland covers the glacier with giant blankets to prevent it from melting

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