Marine terraces as indicators of global geoidal and hydrological changes

Abstract

Spatial pattern analysis of marine terrace elevations from 40-30 thous, years BP was used to reconstruct sea level/geoid surface and geoid parameters during that time. The polar flattening of geodetic ellipsoid was lower than its present value (1/298.81 and 1/298.26 respectively because of glacial-induced mass redistribution. Increase in polar stress occurred during the last 30 thous, years was possibly driven by pertubation brought to the gravitational field by disintergration of polar ice sheets in the Northern hemisphere. But the polar flattening value becomes only half-restored during the last deglacial hemicycle. So repetitive glacial advances during Pleistocene acted as a global "pump" for uncondensed zones at the upper/ lower mantle boundary. Dissipation of tidal energy is an order of magnitude less intensive in its Earth's rotation effect.