Isostasy and load response
Isostasy describes buoyancy-related balance of lithospheric columns over a deformable mantle in an appropriate model.
Key knowledge
Isostasy describes buoyancy-related balance of lithospheric columns over a deformable mantle in an appropriate model. Added or removed loads can cause subsidence or rebound over time. Real responses also depend on lithospheric strength, mantle rheology and lateral load distribution.
Conditions and scope
- The mantle is predominantly solid; long-term deformation does not mean a global liquid ocean beneath crust.
- Local buoyancy balance is an idealization and does not alone determine the response timescale.
Sources · 2
References
Sources retain their recorded scope. A source link alone does not establish verification of every statement.
Steven Earle — Physical Geology, 2nd edition, BCcampus Open Education2 sources
Evidence and review
Read buoyancy/load analogy and postglacial response; kept rheological timescale and solid-mantle limitation.
2026-10-10 · Independent AI editorial review: All36 Life-authored Earth compact statements/conditions/displayed equations and all81 origin semantic links read; all36 author exact-source matrix rows and exclusions assessed. All18 inherited Earth compact records read for combined inventory. Targeted independent actual primary sections listed below; not every source body or proof independently reread. AI editorial reference review, not human certification/field proficiency or whole-field completion. Receipt: earth-life-independent-content-review.1.
Entry details
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- uni-earth-isostatic-response
- Revision
- core.1
- Structured reference record
- University core expansion