English
 
Privacy Policy Disclaimer
  Advanced SearchBrowse

Item

ITEM ACTIONSEXPORT
Add to Basket
  Local TagsRelease HistoryDetailsSummary

Released
Journal Article

Temporal Gravity Variations near Shrinking Vatnajökull Ice Cap, Iceland

Authors

Jacoby,  W. R.
External Organizations;

Hartmann,  O.
External Organizations;

Wallner,  H.
External Organizations;

Smilde,  P. L.
External Organizations;

Bürger,  S.
External Organizations;

Sjöberg,  L. E.
External Organizations;

Erlingsson,  S.
External Organizations;

Wolf,  D.
External Organizations;

/persons/resource/volkerk

Klemann,  Volker
Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum;

/persons/resource/sasgen

Sasgen,  Ingo
Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum;

, 

External Ressource
No external resources are shared
Fulltext (public)
There are no public fulltexts stored in GFZpublic
Supplementary Material (public)
There is no public supplementary material available
Citation

Jacoby, W. R., Hartmann, O., Wallner, H., Smilde, P. L., Bürger, S., Sjöberg, L. E., Erlingsson, S., Wolf, D., Klemann, V., Sasgen, I. (2009): Temporal Gravity Variations near Shrinking Vatnajökull Ice Cap, Iceland. - Pure and Applied Geophysics, 166, 8-9, 1283-1302.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00024-009-0499-9


https://gfzpublic.gfz-potsdam.de/pubman/item/item_239307
Abstract
Repeated gravity measurements were carried out from 1991 until 1999 at sites SE of Vatnajökull, Iceland, to estimate the mass flow and deformation accompanying the shrinking of the ice cap. Published GPS data show an uplift of about 13 ± 5 mm/a near the ice margin. A gravity decrease of –2 ± 1 μGal/a relative to the Höfn base station, was observed for the same sites. Control measurements at the Höfn station showed a gravity decrease of –2 ± 0.5 µGal/a relative to the station RVIK 5473 at Reykjavík (about 250 km from Höfn). This is compatible, as a Bouguer effect, with a 10 ± 3 mm/a uplift rate of the IGS point at Höfn and an uplift rate of ~20 mm/a near the ice margin. Although the derived gravity change rates at individual sites have large uncertainties, the ensemble of the rates varies systematically and significantly with distance from the ice. The relationship between gravity and elevation changes and the shrinking ice mass is modelled as response to the loading history. The GPS data can be explained by 1-D modelling (i.e., an earth model with a 15-km thick elastic lithosphere and a 7·10^17 Pa·s asthenosphere viscosity), but not the gravity data. Based on 2-D modelling, the gravity data favour a low-viscosity plume in the form of a cylinder of 80 km radius and 10^17 to 10^18 Pa·s viscosity below a 6 km-thick elastic lid, embedded in a layered PREM-type earth, although the elevation data are less well explained by this model. Strain-porosity-hydrology effects are likely to enhance the magnitude of the gravity changes, but need verification by drilling. More accurate data may resolve the discrepancies or suggest improved models.