Sunday, March 16, 2014

Isostasy - Airy & Pratt

Isostasy
  • describes the state of equilibrium of a lithospheric plate floating on the asthenosphere
  • the weight of columns of rock, at some depth called the depth of compensation, is everywhere equal
 Airy Isostasy

mountains have a crustal root that compensates for the additional relief (variation in thickness)



Pratt Isostasy

density varies laterally, so that mountains have a lower density than higher density, thinner portions of crust

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