*4.2. Earth Model*

In the isostatic calculations we have assumed an elastic lithosphere thickness of 30 km (flexural rigidity 5 × 10<sup>23</sup> Nm). As mentioned above this Earth model has been shown to match other Fennoscandian post-glacial data, but most of the published GIA Earth models of Fennoscandia have a thick elastic lithosphere, between 80 and 160 km [34,39]. However, a thick lithosphere is not a viable option for data on tilted palaeo shorelines of coastal southwestern Norway and not for the Barents Sea [34,52]. However, a recent study of the Tapes transgression along the Norwegian coast indicates a thicker e ffective elastic lithosphere thickness of 70 km (flexural rigidity 3 × 10<sup>24</sup> Nm) in Northern Norway [53].

The glacial isostatic tilt caused by a 70 km thick elastic lithosphere is shown in Figure 8. Sedimentary basins located in SW Barents Sea could be tilted by up to 2.0 m/km due to the LGM ice sheet, which is about 70% of the tilt with lithospheric thickness of 30 km (cf. Figure 2). The flexural stress due to a 70 km thick lithosphere is thus somewhat lower than for a thinner lithosphere, but the stresses will be located basically in the same area. We believe, however, that a model with thin elastic lithosphere of 30 km better describes the Earth rheology of the Barents Sea than a model with thicker elastic lithosphere (see [52,54]).

**Figure 8.** The isostatic tilts for lithosphere thickness of 70 km.
