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1 - Glacially Triggered Faulting

A Historical Overview and Recent Developments

from Part I - Introduction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 December 2021

By
Holger Steffen ,
Odleiv Olesen  and
Raimo Sutinen
Edited by
Holger Steffen ,
Odleiv Olesen  and
Raimo Sutinen
Holger Steffen
Affiliation:
Lantmäteriet, Sweden
Odleiv Olesen
Affiliation:
Geological Survey of Norway
Raimo Sutinen
Affiliation:
Geological Survey of Finland
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Summary

Glacially triggered faulting, also called glacially induced faulting or postglacial faulting, describes fault movement caused by a combination of tectonic and glacially induced isostatic stresses. Stresses induced by the advance and retreat of an ice sheet are thought to be released during or after ice melting and reactivate pre-existing faults. The most impressive fault scarps that witness such activity, are found in Northern Europe. It was assumed these features are unique. This view has changed recently as new faults were discovered – even outside the former glaciated area – and fault activity dating showed several phases of reactivation thousands of years after deglaciation ended. This book summarizes the research until the very recent findings. It reviews the theoretic aspects, i.e. the knowledge to understand the presence of glacially induced fault structures, followed by an overview of geological, geophysical, geodetic and geomorphological investigations methods, a summary of all known glacially induced faults worldwide and an outline for modelling of these stresses and faults.

Keywords

Glacially Induced FaultPostglacial FaultGlacially Triggered FaultingGlacial Isostatic AdjustmentPostglacial ReboundNeotectonicsSeismicityClassificationCriteriaHistory
Type
Chapter
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Glacially-Triggered Faulting , pp. 3 - 19
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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