Glacial Ice Percentage Below Ground?
When they say a 3km thick ice sheet, is that just the above ground height or entire height, some of which is below the surface due to isostasy, like an ice cube in water?
If its just above ground, then when the ice melted, much more water than expected would be created, correct?
More Questions From This User See All
Answers & Comments
Verified answer
The ice sits on top of the ground surface, it is not FLOATING in the ground. Any isostatic effect is felt in the mantle, as the earth's crust is depressed by the weight of the ice. But 3 km thickness of ice means exactly that. It is not measured from the mantle / crust interface.
above ground its ice sheet -below its permafrost (not like icostacy - cos the ice is between grains of soil - i.e its an integral part of it, not floating on it)
"much more water than expected would be created"
how much do you "expect"?
Permafrost is exactly that- its permanent - if it did melt then since ice is less dense than water you would just get soggy soil or mud