Geological destabilization

Alexander 'Sasha' Chislenko (sasha1@netcom.com)
Sat, 23 Jan 1999 15:44:55 -0500

At 13:20 01/23/99 , Michael S. Lorrey wrote:

> All that is needed is for
>sufficient force to crack the crust of the planet enough so that it breaks up
>like an ice floe. The impacts are merely catalysts. Once this is done, the
>crust
>destabilizes and becomes inundated with fresh lava, eventually subducting
>everything and a new crust forms. Grey goo gets gutted.
>

What can happen if someone knocks a bit of ice off Antarctica? If the continent lightens up just enough to start rising, the following sequence of earthquakes can melt and shake off more ice, which will lead to faster rising, etc. - until much of the ice falls off. I wonder how unstable Antarctica may be in this respect, and how much would it take to start the process.
I've been asking this question since high school...

Any geologists out there?



Alexander Chislenko <http://www.lucifer.com/~sasha/home.html> <sasha1@netcom.com> <sasha@media.mit.edu>