Vertical land motion in the Iberian Atlantic coast and its implications for sea level change evaluation

Abstract

In this study, we estimate vertical land motion for 35 stations primarily located along the coastline of Portugal and Spain, using GPS time series with at least eight years of observations. Based on this set of GPS stations, our results show that vertical land motion along the Iberian coastline is characterized, in general, by a low to moderate subsidence, ranging from -2.2 mm yr(-1) to 0.4 mm yr(-1), partially explained by the glacial isostatic adjustment geophysical signal. The estimates of vertical land motion are subsequently applied in the analysis of tide gauge records and compared with geocentric estimates of sea level change. Geocentric sea level for the Iberian Atlantic coast determined from satellite altimetry for the last three decades has a mean of 2.5 /- 0.6 mm yr(-1), with a significant range, as seen for a subset of grid points located in the vicinity of tide gauge stations, which present trends varying from 1.5 mm yr(-1) to 3.2 mm yr(-1). Relative sea level determined from tide gauges for this region shows a high degree of spatial variability, that can be partially explained not only by the difference in length and quality of the time series, but also for possible undocumented datum shifts, turning some trends unreliable. In general, tide gauges corrected for vertical land motion produce smaller trends than satellite altimetry. Tide gauge trends for the last three decades not corrected for vertical land motion range from 0.3 mm yr(-1) to 5.0 mm yr(-1) with a mean of 2.6 /- 1.4 mm yr(-1), similar to that obtained from satellite altimetry. When corrected for vertical land motion, we observe a reduction of the mean to E1.9 /- 1.4 mm yr(-1). Actions to improve our knowledge of vertical land motion using space geodesy, such as establishing stations in co-location with tide gauges, will contribute to better evaluate sea level change and its impacts on coastal regions.