Late Quaternary variations in relative sea level due to glacial cycle polar wander
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Abstract
Growth and decay of continental ice sheets can excite significant motion of the Earth's rotation pole and cause a complex spatio-temporal pattern of changes in relative sea level. These two effects have generally been considered separately, but may interact in important ways. In particular, a simple model of the melting of the Laurentide ice sheet causes a uniform eustatic sea level rise of 55 m, and also induces a motion of the rotation pole by 0.1 to 1 degree, depending on viscosity structure in the mantle. This motion produces a secular pole tide, which is a spherical harmonic degree 2, order 1 component of the relative sea level pattern, with peak-to-peak amplitude of 20 to 40 m. The maximum effect is along the great circle passing through the path of the pole and at latitudes of ±45°. This secular pole tide has been ignored in most previous attempts to estimate ice sheet loading history and mantle viscosity from global patterns of relative sea level change. It has a large influence along the East coast of North America and the West coast of South America, and significantly contributes to present day rates of relative sea level change.
| Publication type | Article |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Title | Late Quaternary variations in relative sea level due to glacial cycle polar wander |
| Series title | Geophysical Research Letters |
| DOI | 10.1029/96GL02886 |
| Volume | 23 |
| Issue | 21 |
| Year Published | 1996 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | American Geophysical Union |
| Description | 4 p. |
| First page | 3023 |
| Last page | 3026 |
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