Skip to main

Paleoclimatology (thesaurus)

Search from vocabulary

Concept information

Término preferido

isostasy  

Definición

  • Isostasy or isostatic equilibrium is the state of gravitational equilibrium between Earth's crust (or lithosphere) and mantle such that the crust "floats" at an elevation that depends on its thickness and density. This concept is invoked to explain how different topographic heights can exist at Earth's surface. Although originally defined in terms of continental crust and mantle, it has subsequently been interpreted in terms of lithosphere and asthenosphere, particularly with respect to oceanic island volcanoes, such as the Hawaiian Islands. Although Earth is a dynamic system that responds to loads in many different ways, isostasy describes the important limiting case in which crust and mantle are in static equilibrium. Certain areas (such as the Himalayas and other convergent margins) are not in isostatic equilibrium and are not well described by isostatic models. (Adapted from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isostasy)

Concepto genérico

Etiquetas alternativas

  • isostatic equilibrium

En otras lenguas

URI

http://data.loterre.fr/ark:/67375/QX8-MXN0NVN6-C

Descargue este concepto:

RDF/XML TURTLE JSON-LD última modificación 4/6/24