Anomalous ocean load tide signal observed in lake-level variations in Tierra del Fuego

• Published in: Geophysical research letters Vol. 36; no. 5; pp. L05305 - n/a
• Main Authors: Richter, A., Hormaechea, J. L., Dietrich, R., Perdomo, R., Fritsche, M., Del Cogliano, D., Liebsch, G., Mendoza, L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Geophysical Union 01-03-2009; Blackwell Publishing Ltd; John Wiley & Sons, Inc
• Subjects: Computational Geophysics; Cryosphere; Earth sciences; Earth, ocean, space; Exact sciences and technology; Geodesy and Gravity; Geodetics; Geographic Location; Geophysics; Gravity; High performance computing; lake tides; Lakes; Lithosphere; Marine; Model verification and validation; Ocean-atmosphere interaction; Ocean/Earth/atmosphere/hydrosphere/cryosphere interactions; Oceanography; Physical; Physical oceanography; South America; Surface waves and tides; Tidal effects; tidal loading; Time variable gravity; South America; Tierra del Fuego; PSW, Argentina, Tierra del Fuego; tidal loading; lake tides; Tide effect; models; amplitude; islands; Regional scope; lithosphere; global; lakes; loading; Modeling; tides
• ISSN: 0094-8276; 1944-8007
• DOI: 10.1029/2008GL036970

We demonstrate the application of a 100 km long lake as a sensor for studying the tidal effects on Tierra del Fuego main island. The lake‐level variations observed in Lago Fagnano reflect both the direct response to the tidal potential and the indirect effect of the ocean tidal loading. Modeling both contributions explains the observed tidal signal in the lake to about 70%. Underestimated model load tide amplitudes are found to be probably responsible for the remaining difference. We interpret this discrepancy as a hint for regional elastic lithosphere properties differing substantially from those represented by currently available global models.