American Association for the Advancement of Science, Science, 6395(360), p. 1335-1339, 2018
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A quick rebound for Antarctic crust Earth's crust deforms under the load of glaciers and ice sheets. When these masses are removed, the crust rebounds at a time scale determined by the viscosity of the upper mantle. Using GPS, Barletta et al. found that the viscosity of the mantle under the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is much lower than expected. This means that as ice is lost, the crust rebounds much faster than previously expected. Although estimates of total ice loss have to be revised upward, the surprising finding indicates that the ice sheet may stabilize against catastrophic collapse. Science , this issue p. 1335