Gravity surveying is challenging in Antarctica because of its hostile environment and inaccessibility. Nevertheless, many ground‐based, airborne, and shipborne gravity campaigns have been completed by the geophysical and geodetic communities since the 1980s. We present the first modern Antarctic‐wide gravity data compilation derived from 13 million data points covering an area of 10 million km2, which corresponds to 73% coverage of the continent. The remove‐compute‐restore technique was applied for gridding, which facilitated leveling of the different gravity data sets with respect to an Earth gravity model derived from satellite data alone. The resulting free‐air and Bouguer gravity anomaly grids of 10 km resolution are publicly available. These grids will enable new high‐resolution combined Earth gravity models to be derived and represent a major step forward toward solving the geodetic polar data gap problem. They provide a new tool to investigate continental‐scale lithospheric structure and geological evolution of Antarctica.
S U M M A R YA GPS network, consisting of 10 sites, was established in the ice-free area of West Greenland and was observed for the first time in 1995. In 2002 a complete re-observation was carried out. These repeated GPS observations served as a basis for the determination of vertical crustal deformations. The data analysis was performed using the Bernese Software version 5.0. For the central site Kangerlussuaq a negative uplift rate (subsidence) of (−3.1 ± 1.1) mm yr −1 was obtained, related to the reference frame IGb00. The regional pattern is characterized by an east-west gradient of up to 4 mm yr −1 between the outer coast and the subsiding area along the present ice margin, which can be explained to a great extent as a result of the late Holocene re-advance of the Greenland ice sheet. Relative sea-level changes could be calculated taking the present eustatic sea-level rise into account. The present-day sea level rises at the outer coast between Maniitsoq and Paamiut, and in the large fjords with increasing rates of more than 4 mm yr −1 in their innermost parts. These findings are in agreement with the general picture obtained from geomorphological and archaeological research. For Sisimiut and the Disko Bay area the present sea-level change is almost zero, whereas the crustal uplift rate for Ilulissat was observed to be 1.6 mm yr −1 . We conclude that this present vertical uplift rate in Ilulissat is affected by the retreat of the ice margin during the last 150 yr and the present negative mass balance of the Jakobshavn Isbrae and its drainage basin.
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