Publication Date:
2016-02-03
Description:
With absolute gravimetric observations from 2010-2013 in the southern Tibet, Chen et al. (2015) reported a gravity increase of up to 20 μGal/yr and concluded it is possible if there was a density increase in a disk range of 580 km in diameter. Here we used observations from the gravity satellites GRACE over 12 years to evaluate whether the model was practical, because a mass accumulation in such a large spatial range is well within the detectability ability of GRACE. The gravity trend based on their model is orders of magnitude larger than the GRACE observation, thus negating its conclusions. Then We evaluated contributions from seasonal variation, lakes, glaciers, rivers, precipitation and snowfall, and conclude that these factors cannot cause such a large gravity signal. Finally, we discussed some possible explanations for the gravity increase of 40 μGal in two years.
Print ISSN:
0094-8276
Electronic ISSN:
1944-8007
Topics:
Geosciences
,
Physics
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