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van der Wal et al. 2004
van der Wal, W., Schotman, H.H.A. and Vermeersen, L.L.A. (2004). Geoid heights due to a crustal low viscosity zone in glacial isostatic adjustment modeling: A sensitivity analysis for GOCE. Geophysical Research Letters 31: doi: 10.1029/2003GL019139. issn: 0094-8276.

Seismic observations and the occurrence of post-seismic deformation in several continental regions indicate the presence of one or more layers with relative low (1018--1019 Pas) viscosity in the Earth's crust. This study simulates the effect of thickness, viscosity and depth of such a low viscosity zone (LVZ) on geoid heights that are the result of glacial isostatic adjustment to Pleistocene ice loads. It is found that an LVZ introduces variations in geoid heights up to 1 meter with spactial scales larger than a few hundred kilometers underneath and just outside former glaciated areas. The response to changes in the properties of the LVZ is shown to be wavelength-dependent. The LVZ induced geoid signal is within the accuracy of the upcoming GOCE satellite mission, which means that in principle it should be possible to detect the presence of a supposed LVZ with GOCE data.

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Abstract

Keywords
Geodesy and Gravity, Regional and global gravity anomalies and Earth structure, Geodesy and Gravity, Rheology of the lithosphere and mantle, Planetology, Solid Surface Planets, Glaciation, Tectonophysics, Rheology—crust and lithosphere
Journal
Geophysical Research Letters
http://www.agu.org/journals/gl/
Publisher
American Geophysical Union
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