| Term: | Isostasy |
| Definition: | Isostasy refers to the response of the earth to changes in surface load. It includes the deformational and gravitational response. This response is elastic on short time scales, as in the earth-ocean response to recent changes in mountain glaciation, or viscoelastic on longer time scales, as in the response to the last deglaciation following the Last Glacial Maximum. See also Glacial Isostatic Adjustment (GIA). |