Isostasy

Isostasy describes the state of equilibrium of a LITHOSPHERIC plate floating on the ASTHENOSPHERE

Isostasy
Definitions (Wikipedia):

The lithosphere (from the Greek for "rocky" sphere) is the solid outermost shell of a rocky planet. On the Earth, the lithosphere includes the crust and the uppermost layer of the mantle (the upper mantle or lower lithosphere) which is joined to the crust Under the influence of the low-intensity, longterm stresses that drive plate tectonic motions, the lithosphere responds essentially as a rigid shell.

Isostasy
Definitions (Wikipedia):

The thickness of the lithosphere varies from around 1.6 km at the mid-ocean ridges to approximately 130 km beneath older continental crust. The thickness of the continental lithospheric plates is probably around 150 kilometers.

Isostasy
Definitions (Wikipedia):

The asthenosphere (from an invented Greek a + ''sthenos "without strength") is the region of the Earth between 100-200 km below the surfacebut perhaps extending as deep as 400 kmthat is the weak or "soft" zone in the upper mantle. It lies just below the lithosphere, which is involved in plate movements and isostatic adjustments.

Isostasy
Definitions (Wikipedia):

In spite of its heat, pressures keep it plastic, or semi-molten, and it has a relatively low density. Seismic waves, the speed of which decrease with the softness of a medium, pass relatively slowly through the asthenosphere, the cue that originally alerted seismologists to its presence; thus it has been given the name low-velocity zone.

Isostasy
History

Between 1735 and 1745 a French expedition under Pierre Bouguer made measurements of a degree of latitude in Peru and near Paris in order to determine the shape of the Earth. Result: Mass of the Andes deflects the plumb line but less than expected!

Isostasy
How does gravity vary when approaching C?

NOT as much as expected! But why?

History of Isostasy I
Between 1840 and 1859 Sir George Everest (1790-1866) was charged with the mapping of India. In contrast to the earlier expeditions to the Arctic and South America, both astronomical and geodetic positions were measured. As the flattening of the Earth had now been approximated, that information could be used to locate vertices of triangles when triangulating. Astronomical and geodetic positions could now be compared. Astronomical position: an angle between the equatorial plane and the local plumb-line direction.

History of Isostasy II
Geodetic position: an angle between the equatorial plane and the local normal to the Earths best fitting elipsoid. Everest found that for two stations on the Ganges Plain, the latitude difference between them calculated geodetically was 5.24 inches (1 inch = 2.54cm) smaller than that determined astronomically. Everest attributed this error to small errors in the geodetic survey (wrong).

Isostasy
history
From Watts, 2001

The results showed that indeed, as Newton had proposed, the length of one degree of latitude at the pole was longer (900 m greater at the Arctic Circle than at the equator) than at the equator. The earth is flattened at the poles. Flattening was estimated to be 1/216.8.

Isostasy
For both Andes and Himalayas, the lack of mass beneath the mountains, required for the reduced deflection of the plumb line, was found to be approximately equal to the mass of the mountains themselves! This is an alternative statement of the Archimedes principle of hydrostatic equilibrium.

Vsubmerged * fluid = Vbody * body

Archimedes Principal
A floating body displaces its own weight of water

Exercise: A ship is floating in Lake Starnberg. It has a rectangular hull 150 m long and 52 m wide. The bottom of the hull is 3 m under water. Why is the location of the ship relevant? What is the weight of the ship. Will you sink in a lava flow?

From Mussett and Khan, 2000

Isostasy
The depth below which all pressures are hydrostatic is termed the compensation depth. At or below the compensation depth, the the weight of (imaginary) vertical columns with the same cross sectional area must be the same. A mountain in isostatic equilibrium is therefore compensated by a mass deficiency beneath it but above the compensation depth.

Gravity and Isostatic Equilibrium

From Mussett and Khan, 2000

If gravity is measured along the line A, B, C there would be no variation (see note below) the blocks are in isostatic equilibrium the mass is equal below the observation level at all points. In practice there are small variations where blocks abut. WHY?? Because g not only depends on the masses directly below but also on the masses to either side!

In practice we mostly measure gravity at ground level. Complicates recognizing if an area is in isostatic equilibrium due to the corrections that have to be made.

Isostasy
History

The same observation was made in the Himalayas by Sir George Everest. What does this observation imply? Two hypothesis a) Pratt b) Airy 1889 the term isostasy was used

Airys Hypothesis
Rigid upper layer and substarte are assumed to have a constant density u and s, respectively. Isostatic compensation is achieved by deep roots (iceberg)

Airys Hypothesis

g (hlith lith + hasth asth ) A = g (hlith lith + hasth asth ) B

Or simply, the weight of all columns above the compensation depth are equal

Pratt Isostasy
Depth of the base of upper level is constant. Isostatic equilibrium is achieved by composing the upper layer of columns of constant density

(hlith lith ) A = (hlith lith ) B

Or simply, the weight of all columns above the compensation depth are equal

Lets Compute part 1

What are the effects of 2 km of ice on top of the continental crust? The model:
material ice sediments crust mantle asthenosphere density 0.9 Mg/m3 2.0 Mg/m3 2.7 Mg/m3 3.1 Mg/m3 3.2 Mg/m3 thickness 2 km 3 km 30 km 70 km

The solution
g (hlith lith + hasth asth ) A = g (hlith lith + hasth asth ) B
(3x2.00)+(30x2.7)+(70x3.1)+(hax3.2) = (2x0.90)+(3x2.00)+(30x2.70)+(70x3.10) ha x 3.20 = 2x0.90 ha = 0.5625km

Lets Compute part 2

On our continent we have a lake with a depth of 2 km in isostatic equilibrium. Rivers bring in sediments and fill the lake completely The model:
material water old sediments new sediments crust mantle asthenosphere density 1.0 Mg/m3 2.0 Mg/m3 1.8 Mg/m3 2.7 Mg/m3 3.1 Mg/m3 3.2 Mg/m3 thickness 2 km 3 km hs 30 km 90 km

The solution
g (hlith lith + hasth asth ) A = g (hlith lith + hasth asth ) B
(2x1.00)+(ha x 3.20) = (hs x 1.80) 2+ha=hs substitute hs by ha gives the following equation: (2x1.00) + (hax3.20) = (2xha)x1.80 2+3.2ha = 3.60+1.8ha ha = 1.1429km The filled basin is deeper than the original lake

Pratt vs. Airy

Which model is correct in practice? Both Mountains are supported by large roots There is also support due to lateral changes of density. Continents are higher than ocean floors due to both large density and thickness differences.

From Watts, 2001

Isostasy with regional compensation

The models shown so far are too simple! why? They would require enormous vertical faults, penetrating the whole lithosphere! such faults do not exist! we have to consider regional compensation caused by the lateral strangth of the crust.

Isostasy with regional compensation

Regional Isostatic Compensation

The effect of the load can therefore be distributed over a wide area, depending on the flexural rigidity of the supporting material. A common model of regional isostatic compensation is that of an elastic plate that is bent by topographic and subsurface loads. The flexural rigidity of the plate (D) determines the degree to which the plate supports the load. A thin, weak diving board bends greatly, especially near the diver. A thicker board of the same material behaves more rigidly the diver causes a smaller deflection. The flexural rigidity (resistance to bending) thus depends on the elastic thickness of each board
From Lillie, 1999

Regional Isostatic Compensation

The deflection of a 2-D plate due to a linear load depressing the plates surface (assuming a fluid material below) is given by:
D(d 4 w d 4 x) + ( b a ) gw = q( x)

Where:
D=Flexural rigidity w = vertical deflection of plate at x x = horizontal distance from load to a point on the plates surface a = density of material above plate b = density of material below plate g = gravitational acceleration q(x) = load applied to the plate at x

Strong plate: Long wavelength small amplitude (w) deflection. Weak plate: Short wavelength large amplitude deflection.

From Lillie, 1999

Regional Isostatic Compensation

In (a) the subducting plate is analogous to the diving board the load is primarily the overriding plate.
From Lillie, 1999

Flexure of the downgoing plate results in a depression (trench) and, farther out to sea, a bulge on the oceanic crust.

In (b) the mass of the mountains puts a load on the plate that can be expressed in both directions. Depressions between the mountains and the flexural bulges (foreland basins) can fill with sediments to considerable thickness.

Isostatic Anomaly
Gravity (g) is constant to first order when measured at a constant height over an area (above any topography). However, as g is typically measured on the ground there will be variations due to any change in elevation
From Mussett and Khan, 2000

Isostatic Anomaly
On the surface, g at D will be less than at B. If we apply the Free-air correction to D, they will be equal. The free-air anomaly of an area in isostatic equilibrium should be zero.
From Mussett and Khan, 2000

Gravity along A-A will be constant.

If we apply the Bouguer correction we remove the mass above the datum, reducing g. The Bouguer anomaly of a plateau in isostatic equilibrium is negative. If an area is not in isostatic equilibrium the free-air anomaly will be positive and the Bouguer anomaly zero.

Isostatic Anomaly
From Fowler, 1992

In the above examples the free-air and Bouguer anomalies (FAA and BA) have been calculated for 100, 75 and 0% isostatic compensation The isostatic anomaly has also been calculated Pratt and two Airy models in the case of (a). In (a) we see that the Airy model assuming a compensation depth of 30 km is exactly zero. The isostatic anomaly is the actual Bouguer anomaly minus the computed Bouguer anomaly for the proposed density model. Thus each density model for a region has a different isostatic anomaly.

Isostatic Rebound
From Mussett and Khan, 2000

Isostatic equilibrium is not an immediate process. The asthenosphere has to flow away when a load is added, and flow back when a load is taken away. Asthenosphere is very viscous. When a load is removed the lithosphere slowly returns to its original shape by isostatic rebound. Takes thousands of years. The Great Lakes lie in a depression produced by the weight of ice. In Greenland and Antarctica the land is depressed by an ice sheet

Isostatic Rebound
From Mussett and Khan, 2000

In Scandinavia a thick ice sheet once depressed the land. 1. Total upllift since the end of the glaciation (10,000 years ago) is ~275 m the from examination of uplifted beaches. This is what would be expected from a 1 km thick ice sheet. 2. The negative free-air gravity anomaly suggests that the area is underlain by a mass deficit and is not in isostatic equilibrium (zero FAA). This indicates that the area is still rising.

Solid-State Creep
For isostasy to work, the mantle has to behave like a viscous liquid. However, we know from seismology (HOW?) that the mantle is a solid. These two behaviors occur on different time scales Silly Putty slowly collapses if left on a table, but will bounce if thrown at a wall, and snap if pulled apart rapidly. A glacier flows down a valley, but the ice will shatter if hit with a hammer. This behavior is possible because of solid-state creep Most crystals have a simple type of defect called a vacancy. Random thermal vibrations can cause atoms to break free from the bonds that hold it to an adjacent atom and move it into a vacancy. Another atom can then jump into the new vacancy. If a material is strained by an external stress, vacancies will tend to move to relieve the strain. In a solid only a small proportion of the atoms are moving at any one time. In a liquid, most are.

From Mussett and Khan, 2000