SIXTY YEARS OF REGIONAL SEA LEVEL VARIABILITY AND COASTAL IMPACTS WITH FOCUS ON THE TROPICAL PACIFIC, CARIBBEAN SEA, SOUTH CHINA SEA AND INDIAN OCEAN

摘要

In the context of the French ANR project CECILE (Coastal Environmental Changes: Impact of sea LEvel rise), we investigate the regional sea level variability in the Tropical Pacific, Caribbean, South China Sea and Indian Ocean in order to determine the total relative sea level change (i.e., global mean rise plus low frequency regional trend plus vertical crustal motions) that has affected these regions since 1950. For this purpose, we make use of a mean of three EOF-based 2D past sea level reconstructions [1]. We study the climatic variability in each of the regions and at particular sites, the climate-related sea level trends are determined. The sites chosen correspond to the tide gauge locations. By making use of GPS data wherever available (Tropical Pacific, Indian Ocean), we also estimate the vertical land motions that superimpose to the total climaterelated sea level rise thereby giving the total relative sea level change.