Iceland is rising

It has been a well known fact for a long time that as glaciers melt and become lighter the surface of the Earth rebounds upward as the weight of the ice decreases. Still it is not sure if is caused by past or modern day ice melting.

According to Live Science It has been a well known fact for a long time that as glaciers melt and become lighter the surface of the Earth rebounds upward as the weight of the ice decreases. Still it is not sure if is caused by past or modern day ice melting. Scientists say that Iceland is rising faster than global warming is able to melt the Iceland's ice cap. 

The speed of which the land is rising is one of the fastest rates  at which crust of the planet is rising and can get even faster as the time passes. Researchers in Iceland have used network of 62 GPS receivers attached to rocks to determine the speed of which the crust is moving. By tracking the positions of GPS  the scientists are able to monitor rock movement and determine the speed at which they are moving. 

Researchers have systematically analyze these GPS locations. They found that out that the fastest uplift has happened it the region between Iceland's largest glaciers. Moving as fast as 1.4 inches (3.5 centimeters) per year. 

Researchers suspect that the reason for this is significant ice loss. Records that go back to 19th century showed temperature increase since 1980's. It has been estimated that Iceland has lost 9.5 billion tons of ice since. Despite that most of Iceland's ice caps lay over volcanoes they are responsible only for 5% of the melting of the ice caps. This means that ice melt is due to the modern climate change. 

Further research would be required to understand if accelerated ice loss has implications for volcanic activity .