Adama Science and Technology University

College Of Applied Natural Science

Department of Applied Geology

Course Title: Geophysics

Chapter Two: Isostasy

By: Abdela B. (MSc)

Adama, Ethiopia
March 4, 2024
 Outline
 Introduction
 Mechanism of Isostasy
 Isostasy and continental lithosphere
 Isostasy and oceanic lithosphere
 Isostatic Gravity anomalies
At the end of this chapter the students will able to :
 Define Isostasy
 Understand the mechanism of isostasy
 Differentiate Air and pratt isostasy model
 Understand how the isostatic gravity anomalies generate
 Introduction
 Isostasy (equal standing) refers to the state of gravitational equilibrium

between the Earth lithosphere and asthenosphere such that the

tectonic plate ‘float’ at an elevation on which depend on their

thickness and density

 It is the part of earth’s crust that rises or subsides a portion of the

Earth's lithosphere until stability is achieved.

 It occurs when weight is removed or added in order to maintain

equilibrium between buoyancy forces that push the lithosphere upward

and gravity forces that pull the lithosphere downward.

 Isostasy: vertical motion of the Earth crust due to change in pressure

 Cont`………………………..
 The depth at or below which all pressures are hydrostatic is called the compensation
depth.
 A mountain in isostatic equilibrium is compensated by a mass deficiency between the
surface and the compensation depth.
 In contrast, an ocean basin in isostatic equilibrium is compensated by extra mass between
the seabed and the compensation depth.

Fig. 2.1: Pratt’s hypothesis that mountains are underlain by low-density regions while oceans are
underlain by high-density regions. At some depth, known as the ‘‘level surface’’, masses are equal ( After
 Cont`………………..
 Isostasy is an equilibrium between the Earth's crust and upper mantle,
which is a property the crust should have for being in equilibrium.
 Isostasy explains how the lithosphere floats in the asthenosphere
 Cont`………………………
 Archimedes principle, which states that ‘’When a body is immersed
in fluid, the fluid exerts an upward force on the body that is equal
to the weight of the fluid displaced by the body.’’
 This rule applies to all mountain belts and basins that exist under
conditions of local isostatic compensation:
 Cont`…………………..
Example: How high does an iceberg extend below the waterline, if it
sticks up by an amount equal to H?
Cont`…………………..
Cont`…………..
Cont`………………..
Cont`…………………
Cont`……………………
 Mechanism of Isostasy
 Three Mechanism of Isostasy :

1. Air Isostasy :

2. Pratt Isostasy :

3. Flexural isostasy
 Airy Isostasy
 Air hypothesis : mountain range supported by changes in thickness,
density relatively constant.
 where different topography height are accommodated by changes
in crustal thickness , in which the crust has relatively a
constant density
 Isostatic compensation is achieved by deep root .
 Cont`………………….
Depth of Compensation
 At or below compensation depth; the densities of rocks are

relatively the same.

 At or below the depth of compensation: hydrostatic pressures

are the same.

 As in Airy Isostasy, a depth of compensation equal to the depth of
the bottom of the continent.
 Cont`………………….
Calculating the depth of the Root
- To calculate the depth of the root for a mountain of height () above sea level,

-The rigid upper layer and the substratum are assumed to have constant densities, and , respectively (see in Fig.2.2 ) .

- Isostatic compensation is achieved by variation in the thickness of the upper layer: Mountains have deep roots and ocean basins have anti-roots

Fig.2.2 : An illustration of Airy’s hypothesis of isostasy (William Lowrie, 2007)

 Cont`………………………
 Let Suppose, two densities that of the rigid upper layer () which is replaced ) and
that of the substratum, () is represented ( ).
t+ = (+ t +
= (+t+ +-)
=d +( t-d- ) +(+ )
 Continental crust lithosphere (a mountains) of height would therefore have
deep root of thickness() is given by:
= =
 Oceanic crust lithosphere (i.e. a feature at depth `d`) beneath sea level would
have ant root of thickness :
= =
 To summarize, Airy Isostasy is the mechanisms by which mountains ’float’
 Pratt Isostasy
 In this model, they assume that the height of the mountains vary
simply as their density varies
 Mountain range supported by density variation within the crust
 The assumption here is that the bottom of the all the mountains exists
at the same depth.
 Isostatic compensation is achieved by a lateral variation of density
beneath surface features ( see Fig.2.4).
 Cont`………………….
Density of sea water( ; density of substratum ;

- Densities of upper layer beneath mountains of heights: and , and respectively;

- Density of upper layer beneath and ocean of depth (d, );

- density of upper layer beneath land at sea level (), and compensation depth (D).

- Material beneath mountains is less dense; material beneath ocean basins is more
dense.

Fig. 2.4: An illustration of Pratt’s hypothesis of isostasy (William Lowrie, 2007)

 Cont`…………………..
 The depth to the base upper layer constant, the density of the rock
beneath mountains is less than that beneath valleys:
D = +D)
= +D)
=(D – d)

 A mountain whose height () is is underline by of low density

materials is: =( )
 Oceanic basin whose depth is (d) is underline by a high density
materials is : =
 Isostasy and Lithosphere

Oceanic Lithosphere

Lithosphere

Continental lithosphere

 Oceanic lithosphere is associate with oceanic crust

Isostasy and Oceanic lithosphere

Fig. 2.5: Hypothetical vertical profiles of rigidity in (a) oceanic

lithosphere (after Molnar, 1988).
 Isostasy and Continental lithosphere

Fig. 2.5: Hypothetical vertical profiles of rigidity in (b) continental

lithosphere with the estimated depths of brittle–ductile transitions
 Isostatic Gravity anomalies

 The isostatic gravity anomaly is defined as the difference between the

Bouguer gravity anomaly () and the computed gravity anomaly of the
root-zone ().
=-

Type Isostatic Compensation

Complete

Overcompensation

Undercompensation
 Cont`…………
I. When isostatic compensation is complete: the topography is in hydrostatic equilibrium

with its root zone.

• Both ` and are negative but equal, so the isostatic gravity anomaly is everywhere zero

(=0 ).

II. Incase of overcompensation: the eroded topography suggests a root zone that is smaller than the real
root zone.

• The Bouguer anomaly is caused by the large real root , so is numerically larger than .

• Subtracting the smaller negative anomaly of the computed root zone leaves negative isostatic gravity

anomaly( )

III. Incase of undercompensation: the topography suggests a root zone that is larger than the real root

zone .

 The Bouguer anomaly is caused by the smaller real root, so is numerically smaller than .

• Subtracting the large negative anomaly of the root zone leaves a positive isostatic gravity anomaly(
 Cont`……………………
 Isostatic gravity anomaly for the three types of isostatic compensation (See Fig. 2.6).

Fig. 2.6: Explanation of the isostatic gravity anomaly () as the difference between the Bouguer gravity anomaly () and the computed
anomaly of the root-zone estimated from the topography for: a. complete isostatic compensation, b. isostatic overcompensation and
 Cont`………………………

Fig. 2.7 Isostatic gravity anomalies in Switzerland and based on the national gravity map (Klingelé and
 References
1.William Lowrie, 2007. Fundamentals of Geophysics Second Edition
2. C.M.R Fowler, 2005. The solid earth: an introduction to global
geophysics 2nd ed.
3. Watts, A. B. 2001. Isostasy and Flexure of the Lithosphere.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
4. Klingel´e, E. and Oliver, R. 1980. La nouvelle carte gravimetries de la
Suisse. Beitr. Geol. Karte Schweiz, Ser. Geophys., 20.