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Tide gauge observations in Antarctica (1958–2014) and recent ice loss

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 February 2017

G. Galassi  and
G. Spada
G. Galassi*
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Scienze Pure e Applicate (DiSPeA), Universita degli Studi di Urbino ‘Carlo Bo’, Urbino, Italy
G. Spada
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Scienze Pure e Applicate (DiSPeA), Universita degli Studi di Urbino ‘Carlo Bo’, Urbino, Italy Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV), Bologna, Italy
*
[email protected]
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Abstract

Several historical sea level time series from Antarctic tide gauges, available from the Permanent Service for Mean Sea Level, are analysed. Two sea level curves, obtained by averaging data from the Antarctic Peninsula and West Antarctica, for 1958–2014, show trends of (2.0±0.1) and (1.8±0.2) mm yr-1, respectively. By empirical mode decomposition, cyclic and non-cyclic components of sea level change were separated. A periodicity of 4–5 years was confirmed and attributed to the effects of the Antarctic Circumpolar Wave. The non-cyclic components were found to show a ‘levelling off’ of ≈ 1 mm yr-1 since c. 2000, which cannot be attributed to the isostatic response to Holocene ice melting. Using assessed mass balance data from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet and the Antarctic Peninsula, we studied the response to current ice loss in the region and found that the levelling off could be partly explained by accelerated melting during the last approximately two decades. This may represent the first evidence of sea level fingerprints of glacial melting in Antarctica.

Keywords

Antarctic ice sheetsea level changetide gauge data
Type
Physical Sciences
Information
Antarctic Science , Volume 29 , Issue 4 , August 2017 , pp. 369 - 381
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Copyright
© Antarctic Science Ltd 2017 

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