A rising tide lifts Iceland — literally
January 30, 2015 4:12 PM   Subscribe

A rising tide lifts Iceland — literally A team of geoscientists has detected evidence that Iceland is literally rising along with sea levels. posted by Michele in California (20 comments total) 14 users marked this as a favorite
 
I remember learning about glacial isostatic adjustment in some class I took years ago. Apparently the northern Midwest is still rising after the glaciation of the previous ice age!
posted by aubilenon at 4:48 PM on January 30, 2015 [2 favorites]


Oh, dear. Next, Guam!
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 4:59 PM on January 30, 2015


By the way, I think it more likely that it is vulcanism that is making Iceland rise.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 5:00 PM on January 30, 2015


Maybe they won't drink so much now that they are getting high.
posted by Mr. Yuck at 5:14 PM on January 30, 2015 [2 favorites]


Bah. A bunch of global warming apologists don't want to admit the sea level is dropping.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 5:28 PM on January 30, 2015 [2 favorites]


It's from shedding all that debt.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 5:41 PM on January 30, 2015 [5 favorites]


Huh, neat. Wonder if this effect is being observed anywhere else?
posted by Wretch729 at 5:57 PM on January 30, 2015


Across the Canadian Arctic...
posted by sneebler at 6:08 PM on January 30, 2015


For over a decade I've seriously considered moving to Iceland, but this is a little bit worrying:

Bennett said evidence exists that 12,000 years ago, when glaciers experienced accelerated melting, volcanic activity increased 30-fold.
posted by quiet earth at 6:17 PM on January 30, 2015 [1 favorite]


Huh, neat. Wonder if this effect is being observed anywhere else?

Yes, Scotland, Sweden, and northern North America have been rising relative to the sea for a long time. About 150 years ago, a Scottish scientist, Thomas Jamieson, figured out the reason was that it was bouncing back from glaciers 12000 years earlier.

I'd love to hear how this has been changing over the last few centuries. That might shed some insight on how much of this is the melting of modern glaciers, how much is residual effects from the ice age, when Iceland and everything nearby were covered by the polar ice sheet, and how much is the vulcanism that created Iceland in the first place. The recent acceleration is certainly interesting though.
posted by aubilenon at 6:23 PM on January 30, 2015 [1 favorite]


Of course Iceland is, the whole damn place is just that magical.
posted by Windigo at 6:52 PM on January 30, 2015 [4 favorites]


Yes the Earth's crust is literally floating on liquid rock. You want to see some isostatic rebound though wait until we manage to melt Antarctica. I once wrote a few short stories featuring that in which the end result was human extinction. Fortunately we had created superintelligent robots that brought us back. Haven't found where that trope is in the soft SF thread.
posted by localroger at 7:41 PM on January 30, 2015 [2 favorites]


I blame Kattullus. He's usually a good lad, but a bit of a scamp.
posted by GenjiandProust at 7:47 PM on January 30, 2015 [3 favorites]


It's from shedding all that debt.

Don't be ridiculous. Debt floats.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 5:06 AM on January 31, 2015


By the way, I think it more likely that it is vulcanism that is making Iceland rise.

Icelanders are depressed, not repressed, and I don't think they're especially into Star Trek.
posted by Joe in Australia at 5:55 AM on January 31, 2015 [1 favorite]


I remember learning about glacial isostatic adjustment in some class I took years ago. Apparently the northern Midwest is still rising after the glaciation of the previous ice age!

Because of that, we have to adjust the "reference system to define [Great Lakes] water levels" (PDF).

It's pretty amazing stuff. When you pay attention to small details you realize the Earth really breathes and is actually quite fluid, just really really slow fluid.
posted by JoeXIII007 at 7:07 AM on January 31, 2015 [3 favorites]


When you pay attention to small details you realize the Earth really breathes and is actually quite fluid, just really really slow fluid.

It's the gooey caramel molten rock centre.
posted by acb at 7:25 AM on January 31, 2015 [2 favorites]


It floats? Can they put a sail on it?

Just wondering.
posted by mule98J at 10:34 AM on January 31, 2015


It would continue the trend of things that are bad for everywhere else being good for Iceland (e.g. World War II) but, on the other hand, the Gulf Stream might shut down with decreasing ocean salinity, in which case, eponysterically, Iceland would end up covered by glacier while global temperatures would be rising.
posted by Kattullus at 12:46 AM on February 1, 2015


This sounds like elf magic to me.
posted by homunculus at 1:55 PM on February 4, 2015 [4 favorites]


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