What is called isostasy?
Isostasy is a principle that describes the vertical positioning of segments of the earth’s lithosphere relative to the elevation of the land and depth to the top of the asthenosphere. It is, in effect, a restatement of Archimedes’ principle or an application of that principle to the outer layers of the earth. Clarence Dutton was the scientist who coined the term isostasy, and he also studied the idea that the Earth’s crust naturally seeks equilibrium.The literal meaning of the word isostasy is “equal standstill,” but the importance behind it is the principle that Earth’s crust is floating on the mantle, like a raft floating in the water, rather than resting on the mantle like a raft sitting on the ground.