Post-glacial rebound
When you sit on a trampoline, it sinks down under the weight of your body. But when you get up, the trampoline bounces back up, right? That's just what's happening to the Earth's surface, except it's not a trampoline and we're not sitting on it.
Long, long ago, the Earth had huge sheets of ice covering parts of it which were called glaciers. These glaciers were so heavy that they pushed down on the land underneath them. But as the climate began to warm up, the glaciers started to melt and move away, and the land underneath started to bounce back up, kinda like the trampoline.
This bouncy movement of the land is called post-glacial rebound. It can happen over a very long period of time, as the ice sheet retreats, and takes thousdands of years for the process to complete. Essentially, the ground is pushing back up to get back to its original shape before the weight of the ice flattened it.
As the land bounces back up, it can create all sorts of changes. For example, the change in the land's shape can cause rivers to change their course, land to rise or sink, and even change the surrounding ocean currents.
So if you ever hear someone talking about post-glacial rebound, just imagine a giant trampoline bouncing back to its original shape, but on a much larger scale and over a much longer period of time!
Long, long ago, the Earth had huge sheets of ice covering parts of it which were called glaciers. These glaciers were so heavy that they pushed down on the land underneath them. But as the climate began to warm up, the glaciers started to melt and move away, and the land underneath started to bounce back up, kinda like the trampoline.
This bouncy movement of the land is called post-glacial rebound. It can happen over a very long period of time, as the ice sheet retreats, and takes thousdands of years for the process to complete. Essentially, the ground is pushing back up to get back to its original shape before the weight of the ice flattened it.
As the land bounces back up, it can create all sorts of changes. For example, the change in the land's shape can cause rivers to change their course, land to rise or sink, and even change the surrounding ocean currents.
So if you ever hear someone talking about post-glacial rebound, just imagine a giant trampoline bouncing back to its original shape, but on a much larger scale and over a much longer period of time!
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