Ice melting and earthquake suppression in Greenland

It has been suggested that the Greenland ice sheet is the cause of earthquake
suppression in the region. With few exceptions, the observed seismicity
extends only along the continental margins of Greenland, which almost
coincide with the ice sheet margin. This pattern has been put forward as
further validation of the earthquake suppression hypothesis. In this review,
new evidence in terms of ice melting, post-glacial rebound and earthquake
occurrence is gathered and discussed to re-evaluate the connection between
ice mass unloading and earthquake suppression. In Greenland, the spatiotemporal
distribution of earthquakes indicates that seismicity is mainly con-
fined to regions where the thick layer of ice is absent and where significant ice
melting is presently occurring. A clear correlation between seismic activity
and ice melting in Greenland is not found. However, earthquake locations
and corresponding depth distributions suggest two distinct governing mechanisms:
post-glacial rebound promotes moderate-size crustal earthquakes at
Greenland’s regional scale, while current ice melting promotes shallow low
magnitude seismicity locally