Abstract
Analytical solutions are presented for the deformation and stress state of a horizontally stratified earth subject to normal loads of size and wavelength that are characteristic of seamounts. The models investigated include layered elastic plates, homogeneous viscoelastic plates, and elastic over viscoelastic models. A number of geophysical observations point to stress relaxation when the lithosphere is loaded on geological time scales, and this has been modeled with viscoelastic and elastic-viscoelastic models. The viscoelastic models explain many of these observations, but the stresses remain unrepresentative of those in the real lithosphere. A summary of some estimates of effective flexural rigidity indicates that the stress relaxation is an important factor in determining the response of the lithosphere to loading.