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21 - Indications on Glacially Triggered Faulting in Polar Areas

from Part V - Glacially Triggered Faulting Outside Europe

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 December 2021

By
Holger Steffen  and
Rebekka Steffen
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

The polar region is the area surrounding the Earth’s geographical poles (Antarctica, Arctic). While glacially induced faults are well known in the formerly glaciated areas of Northern Europe, such faults within the Arctic and Antarctica are unidentified, although the theory of their physical mechanism would allow their presence. Mainly, the fact that most of the polar region is covered either by ocean (Arctic) or ice sheets (Antarctica, Greenland) prevents detailed analysis of those regions with respect to glacially induced faults. However, there are several indications that suggest an existence of glacially induced faults in the polar region. Here, we summarize findings about potential glacially induced faults in Northern Canada, Greenland, Iceland and Svalbard on the northern hemisphere and revisit the seismicity in Antarctica.

Keywords

ArcticAntarcticaCanadaGreenlandIcelandSvalbardBoothia UpliftSeismicityTsunamiRelative Sea Level
Type
Chapter
Information
Glacially-Triggered Faulting , pp. 366 - 380
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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