Localization of the gravity field and the signature of glacial rebound

Abstract

The negative free-air gravity anomaly centred on Hudson Bay, Canada, shows a remarkable correlation with the location of the Laurentide ice sheet, suggesting that this gravity anomaly is the result of incomplete post-glacial rebound^1,2,3. This region, however, is also underlain by higher-than-average mantle seismic velocities, suggesting that the gravity low might result instead from dynamic topography associated with convective downwellings^4,5,6,7. Here we analyse the global gravity field as a simultaneous function of geographic location and spectral content. We find that the Hudson Bay gravity low is unique, with anomalously high amplitude in the spectral band where the power from the Laurentide ice load is greatest² and the relaxation times predicted for viable models of viscous relaxation are longest⁸. We estimate that about half of the Hudson Bay gravity anomaly is the result of incomplete post-glacial rebound, and derive a mantle viscosity model that explains both this gravity signature and the characteristic uplift rates for the central Laurentide and Fennoscandian regions⁶. This model has a jump in viscosity at 670 km depth, comparable to that in dynamic models of the geoid highs over subducted slabs⁴,⁹, but lacks a low-viscosity asthenosphere, consistent with a higher viscosity in the upper mantle beneath shields than in oceanic regions.