How does glacial isostatic adjustment affect Scandinavia?

Glacial isostatic adjustment causes the land masses in Scandinavia to rise as the Earth's crust rebounds following the removal of the massive Fennoscandian ice sheet. During the last glacial period, known in northern Europe as the Weichselian glaciation, the immense weight of this ice sheet depressed the crust. Today, the direct raising effects of this post-glacial rebound remain readily apparent in Northern Europe.

What we know

• Post-glacial rebound is the rise of land masses after the removal of the huge weight of ice sheets from the last glacial period, which had caused isostatic depression. [1, 2]
• The Weichselian glaciation featured a large Fennoscandian ice sheet that spread out from the Scandinavian Mountains. [4]
• The direct raising effects of post-glacial rebound are readily apparent in parts of Northern Eurasia. [2]
• Glacial isostatic adjustment involves the deformation and recovery of the Earth's crust in response to changes in ice mass distribution. [2]

Where to go next

• whenWhat was the Weichselian glaciation?
• how it workedHow does isostasy maintain Earth's gravitational equilibrium?
• the bigger pictureWhat caused the Quaternary glaciation periods?
• a case in pointWhere else in the world does post-glacial rebound occur?
• what followedHow does post-glacial rebound influence global sea levels?
• an unexpected connectionHow does ice sheet melting change sea levels far away?Melting ice sheets in one region alter gravity and pressure fields, causing remote sea level changes via processes like ocean siphoning.

Sources

• [1]post-glacial rebound (Wikidata Q1161410) · CC0 1.0
• [2]Post-glacial rebound · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [3]Quaternary glaciation · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [4]Weichselian glaciation · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [5]Isostasy · CC BY-SA 4.0