Nearby faults interact with each other through the exchange of stress. However, the extent of fault interaction is poorly understood. In particular, interactions may lead to slow-slip activity, resulting in episodes of transient surface motion. Our study concentrates on Northwest Sulawesi (Indonesia), which hosts two fault zones with potential for major earthquakes and tsunamis: the strike-slip Palu-Koro fault and the Minahassa subduction zone. Thanks to a 20-year-long effort in geodetic monitoring, we are able to identify multiple periods during which surface velocities deviate from their interseismic trend. We use a Bayesian methodology with forward predictions of slip on the two fault interfaces to match the observations following the 2018 Mw7.5 Palu earthquake, and infer that both deep afterslip on the Palu-Koro fault and slow slip on the Minahassa subduction interface have caused the observed transient surface motion. This finding represents the first recording of a slow slip event on the Minahassa subduction interface. We also infer that the subduction interface and the strike-slip fault are likely interacting on a regular basis.@en

Greater landward velocities were recorded after six megathrust earthquakes in subduction zone regions adjacent to the ruptured portion. Previous explanations invoked either increased slip deficit accumulation or plate bending during postseismic relaxation, with different implications for seismic hazard. We investigate whether bending can be expected to reproduce this observed enhanced landward motion (ELM). We use 3D quasi-dynamic finite element models with periodic earthquakes. We find that afterslip downdip of the brittle megathrust exclusively produces enhanced trenchward surface motion in the overriding plate. Viscous relaxation produces ELM when a depth limit is imposed on afterslip. This landward motion results primarily from in-plane elastic bending of the overriding plate due to trenchward viscous flow in the mantle wedge near the rupture. Modeled ELM is, however, incompatible with the observations, which are an order of magnitude greater and last longer after the earthquake. This conclusion does not significantly change when varying mantle viscosity, plate elasticity, maximum afterslip depth, earthquake size, megathrust locking outside of the rupture, or nature and location of relevant model boundaries. The observed ELM consequently appears to reflect faster slip deficit accumulation, implying a greater seismic hazard in lateral segments of the subduction zone.

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Iceberg A-68 separated from the Larsen C Ice Shelf in July 2017 and the impact of this event on the local ocean circulation has yet to be assessed. Here, we conduct numerical simulations of ocean dynamics near and below the ice shelf pre- and post-calving. Results agree with in situ and remote observations of the area as they indicate that basal melt is primarily controlled by wintertime sea-ice formation, which in turn produces High Salinity Shelf Water (HSSW). After the calving event, we simulate a 50% increase in HSSW intrusion under the ice shelf, enhancing ocean heat delivery by 30%. This results in doubling of the melt rate under Gipps Ice Rise, suggesting a positive feedback for further retreat that could destabilize the Larsen C Ice Shelf. Assessing the impact of ice-front retreat on the heat delivery under the ice is crucial to better understand ice-shelf dynamics in a warming environment.

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Land ice discharge from the Antarctic continent into the ocean is restrained by ice shelves, floating extensions of grounded ice that buttress the glacier outflow. The ongoing thinning of these ice shelves – largely due to enhanced melting at their base in response to global warming – is known to accelerate the release of glacier meltwater into the world oceans, augmenting global sea level. Mechanisms of ocean heat intrusion under the ice base are therefore crucial to project the future of Antarctic ice shelves. Furthermore, ice shelves are weakened by the presence of kilometer-wide full-thickness ice rifts, which are observed all around Antarctica. However, their impact on ocean circulation around and below ice shelves has been largely unexplored as ocean models are commonly characterized by resolutions that are too coarse to resolve their presence. Here, we apply the Massachusetts Institute of Technology general circulation model at high resolution to investigate the sensitivity of sub-shelf ocean dynamics and ice-shelf melting to the presence of a kilometer-wide rift in proximity of the ice front. We find that (a) the rift curtails water and heat intrusion beneath the ice-shelf base and (b) the basal melting of a rifted ice shelf is on average 20 % lower than for an intact ice shelf under identical forcing. Notably, we calculate a significant reduction in melting rates of up to 30 % near the grounding line of a rifted ice shelf. We therefore posit that rifts and their impact on the sub-shelf dynamics are important to consider in order to accurately reproduce and project pathways of heat intrusion into the ice-shelf cavity.@en

Attribution of sea-level change to its different drivers is typically done using a sea-level budget approach. While the global mean sea-level budget is considered closed, closing the budget on a finer spatial scale is more complicated due to, for instance, limitations in our observational system and the spatial processes contributing to regional sea-level change. Consequently, the regional budget has been mainly analysed on a basin-wide scale. Here we investigate the sea-level budget at sub-basin scales, using two machine learning techniques to extract domains of coherent sea-level variability: a neural network approach (self-organizing map, SOM) and a network detection approach (δ-MAPS). The extracted domains provide more spatial detail within the ocean basins and indicate how sea-level variability is connected among different regions. Using these domains we can close, within 1σ uncertainty, the sub-basin regional sea-level budget from 1993–2016 in 100 % and 76 % of the SOM and δ-MAPS regions, respectively. Steric variations dominate the temporal sea-level variability and determine a significant part of the total regional change. Sea-level change due to mass exchange between ocean and land has a relatively homogeneous contribution to all regions. In highly dynamic regions (e.g. the Gulf Stream region) the dynamic mass redistribution is significant. Regions where the budget cannot be closed highlight processes that are affecting sea level but are not well captured by the observations, such as the influence of western boundary currents. The use of the budget approach in combination with machine learning techniques leads to new insights into regional sea-level variability and its drivers.@en

A devastating tsunami struck Palu Bay in the wake of the 28 September 2018 M_w = 7.5 Palu earthquake (Sulawesi, Indonesia). With a predominantly strike-slip mechanism, the question remains whether this unexpected tsunami was generated by the earthquake itself, or rather by earthquake-induced landslides. In this study we examine the tsunami potential of the co-seismic deformation. To this end, we present a novel geodetic data set of Global Positioning System and multiple Synthetic Aperture Radar-derived displacement fields to estimate a 3D co-seismic surface deformation field. The data reveal a number of fault bends, conforming to our interpretation of the tectonic setting as a transtensional basin. Using a Bayesian framework, we provide robust finite fault solutions of the co-seismic slip distribution, incorporating several scenarios of tectonically feasible fault orientations below the bay. These finite fault scenarios involve large co-seismic uplift (>2 m) below the bay due to thrusting on a restraining fault bend that connects the offshore continuation of two parallel onshore fault segments. With the co-seismic displacement estimates as input we simulate a number of tsunami cases. For most locations for which video-derived tsunami waveforms are available our models provide a qualitative fit to leading wave arrival times and polarity. The modeled tsunamis explain most of the observed runup. We conclude that co-seismic deformation was the main driver behind the tsunami that followed the Palu earthquake. Our unique geodetic data set constrains vertical motions of the sea floor, and sheds new light on the tsunamigenesis of strike-slip faults in transtensional basins.

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Greater landward velocities were recorded after 6 megathrust earthquakes in subduction zone regions adjacent to the ruptured portion. Previous explanations invoked either increased slip deficit accumulation or plate bending during postseismic relaxation, with different implications for seismic hazard. We investigate whether bending can be expected to reproduce this observed enhanced landward motion (ELM). We use 3D quasi-dynamic finite element models with periodic earthquakes. We find that afterslip downdip of the brittle megathrust exclusively produces enhanced trenchward surface motion in the overriding plate. Viscous relaxation produces ELM when a depth limit is imposed on afterslip. This landward motion results primarily from in-plane elastic bending of the overriding plate due to trenchward viscous flow in the mantle wedge near the rupture. Modeled ELM is, however, incompatible with the observations, which are an order of magnitude greater and last longer after the earthquake. Varying mantle viscosity, plate elasticity, maximum afterslip depth, earthquake size, and megathrust locking outside of the rupture does not significantly change this conclusion. The observed ELM consequently appears to reflect faster slip deficit accumulation, implying a greater seismic hazard in lateral segments of the subduction zone.@en

In this study, we examine the effect of transient mantle creep on the prediction of glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) signals. Specifically, we compare predictions of relative sea level (RSL) change from GIA from a set of Earth models in which transient creep parameters are varied in a simple Burgers model to a reference case with a Maxwell viscoelastic rheology. The model predictions are evaluated in two ways: first, relative to each other to quantify the effect of parameter variation, and second, for their ability to reproduce well-constrained sea level records from selected locations. Both the resolution and geographic location of the RSL observations determine whether the data can distinguish between model cases. Model predictions are most sensitive to the inclusion of transient mantle deformation in regions that are near-field and peripheral relative to former ice sheets. This sensitivity appears particularly true along the North American west coast in the region of the former Cordilleran Ice Sheet, which experienced rapid sea-level fall following deglaciation between 14 and 12 kyr BP. Relative to the Maxwell case, Burgers models better reproduce this rapid phase of regional postglacial sea-level fall. As well, computed goodness-of-fit values in this region show a clear preference for models where transient deformation is present in the whole or lower mantle, and for models where the rigidity of the Kelvin element is weakened relative to the rigidity of the Maxwell element. In contrast, model predictions of relative sea-level change in the far-field show weak sensitivity to the inclusion of transient deformation.

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Ocean mass change is one of the main drivers of present-day sea-level change (SLC). Also known as barystatic SLC, ocean mass change is caused by the exchange of freshwater between the land and the ocean, such as melting of continental ice from glaciers and ice sheets, and variations in land water storage. While many studies have quantified the present-day barystatic contribution to global mean SLC, fewer works have looked into regional changes. This study provides an analysis of regional patterns of contemporary mass redistribution associated with barystatic SLC since 1993 (the satellite altimetry era), with a focus on the uncertainty budget. We consider three types of uncertainties: intrinsic (the uncertainty from the data/model itself), temporal (related to the temporal variability in the time series) and spatial–structural (related to the spatial distribution of the mass change sources). Regional patterns (fingerprints) of barystatic SLC are computed from a range of estimates of the individual freshwater sources and used to analyze the different types of uncertainty. Combining all contributions, we find that regional sea-level trends range from −0.4 to 3.3 mm yr−1 for 2003–2016 and from −0.3 to 2.6 mm yr−1 for 1993–2016, considering the 5–95th percentile range across all grid points and depending on the choice of dataset. When all types of uncertainties from all contributions are combined, the total barystatic uncertainties regionally range from 0.6 to 1.3 mm yr−1 for 2003–2016 and from 0.4 to 0.8 mm yr−1 for 1993–2016, also depending on the dataset choice. We find that the temporal uncertainty dominates the budget, responsible on average for 65 % of the total uncertainty, followed by the spatial–structural and intrinsic uncertainties, which contribute on average 16 % and 18 %, respectively. The main source of uncertainty is the temporal uncertainty from the land water storage contribution, which is responsible for 35 %–60 % of the total uncertainty, depending on the region of interest. Another important contribution comes from the spatial–structural uncertainty from Antarctica and land water storage, which shows that different locations of mass change can lead to trend deviations larger than 20 %. As the barystatic SLC contribution and its uncertainty vary significantly from region to region, better insights into regional SLC are important for local management and adaptation planning.@en

Global mean sea-level rise (SLR) has accelerated since 1900 from less than 2 mm yr-1 during most of the century to more than 3 mm yr-1 since 1993. Decision-makers in coastal countries, however, require information on SLR at the regional scale, where detection of an acceleration in SLR is difficult, because the long-term sea-level signal is obscured by large inter-annual variations with multi-year trends that are easily one order of magnitude larger than global mean values. Here, we developed a time series approach to determine whether regional SLR is accelerating based on tide gauge data. We applied the approach to eight 100-year records in the southern North Sea and detected, for the first time, a common breakpoint in the early 1990s. The mean SLR rate at the eight stations increases from 1.7 ± 0.3 mm yr-1 before the breakpoint to 2.7 ± 0.4 mm yr-1 after the breakpoint (95% confidence interval), which is unprecedented in the regional instrumental record. These findings are robust provided that the record starts before 1970 and ends after 2015. Our method may be applied to any coastal region with tidal records spanning at least 40 years, which means that vulnerable coastal communities still have time to accumulate the required time series as a basis for adaptation decisions in the second half of this century.

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Joint effects of the dynamic sea-level rise projected changes in the large-scale atmosphere/ocean circulation, and wave climate on hurricane-induced extreme water levels in the Caribbean region are assessed. We use the 2D-depth integrated ADCIRC + SWAN wave-ocean model, baroclinically coupled to an ocean-eddying version of the Community Earth System Model, to compare impacts of the September 2017 hurricanes with projected impacts of similar hypothetical tropical storms occurring in the future. The model predicts only minor changes in the hurricane-induced extreme water levels for those Caribbean islands which were severely devastated by the 2017 tropical storms (Irma and Maria). That is, provided that the hurricane intensity remains at the present-day level, the global mean sea-level rise is the main future coastal flood risk factor.

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In Southeast Alaska, extreme uplift rates are primarily caused by glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA), as a result of ice thickness changes from the Little Ice Age to the present combined with a low-viscosity asthenosphere. Previous GIA models adopted a 1-D Earth structure. However, the actual Earth structure is likely more complex due to the long history of subduction and tectonism and the transition from a continental to an oceanic plate. Seismic evidence indeed shows a laterally heterogenous Earth structure. In this study, a numeral model is constructed for Southeast Alaska, which allows for the inclusion of lateral viscosity variations. The viscosity follows from scaling relationships between seismic velocity anomalies and viscosity variations. We use this scaling relationship to constrain the thermal effect on seismic variations and investigate the importance of lateral viscosity variations. We find that a thermal contribution to seismic anomalies of 10% is required to explain the GIA observations. This implies that non-thermal effects control seismic anomaly variations in the shallow upper mantle. Due to the regional geologic history, it is likely that hydration of the mantle impact both viscosity and seismic velocity. The best-fit model has a background viscosity of 5.0 × 10¹⁹ Pa-s, and viscosities at ∼80 km depth range from 1.8 × 10¹⁹ to 4.5 × 10¹⁹ Pa-s. A 1-D averaged version of the 3-D model performed slightly better, however, the two models were statistically equivalent within a 2σ measurement uncertainty. Thus, lateral viscosity variations do not contribute significantly to the uplift rates measured with the current accuracy and distribution of sites.

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The 2018 (Formula presented.) Palu earthquake is a remarkable strike-slip event due to its nature as a shallow supershear fault rupture across several segments and a destructive tsunami that followed coseismic deformation. GPS offsets in the wake of the 2018 earthquake display a transient in the surface motions of northwest Sulawesi. A Bayesian approach identifies (predominantly aseismic) deep afterslip on and below the coseismic rupture plane as the dominant physical mechanism causing the cumulative, postseismic, surface displacements whereas viscous relaxation of the lower crust and poro-elastic rebound contribute negligibly. We confirm a correlation between shallow supershear rupture and postseismic surface transients with afterslip activity in the zone below an interseismically locked fault plane where the slip rate tapers from zero to creeping.

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In this study, we focus on improved constraint of the glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) signal at present-day, and its role as a contributor to present-day sea level budgets. The main study area extends from the coastal regions of northwestern Europe to northern Europe. Both Holocene relative sea level (RSL) data as well as vertical land motion (VLM) data are incorporated as constraints in a semi-empirical GIA model. 71 geological rates of GIA-driven RSL change are inferred from Holocene proxy data and 108 rates of vertical land motion from GNSS provide an additional measure of regional GIA deformation. Within the study area, the geological RSL data complement the spatial gaps of the VLM data and vice versa. Both data sets are inverted in a semi-empirical GIA model to yield updated estimates of regional present-day GIA deformations. A regional validation using tide gauges is presented for the North Sea, where the GIA signal may be complicated by lateral variations in Earth structure and existing predictions of regional and global GIA models show discrepancies. The model validation in the North Sea region suggests that geological data are needed to fit independent estimates of GIA-related RSL change inferred from tide gauge rates, indicating that geological rates from Holocene data do provide an important additional constraint for data-driven approaches to GIA estimation.

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Shallow tropical bays in the Caribbean, like Orient Bay and Galion Bay in Saint Martin, are often sheltered by coral reefs. In the relatively calm environment behind the reefs, seagrass meadows grow. Together, these ecosystems provide valuable ecosystem services like coastal protection, biodiversity hotspots, nursery grounds for animals and enhancing tourism and fisheries. However, sea-level rise imperils these ecosystems and the services they provide because of changing hydrodynamic conditions, with potential effects on the interdependencies between these ecosystems. By means of a hydrodynamic model that accounts for the interaction with vegetation (Delft3D Flexible Mesh), the impact of sea-level rise (0.87 m in 2100) is investigated for three scenarios of future reef development (i.e. keep-up, give-up and catch-up). If coral reefs cannot keep up with sea-level rise, the wave height and flow velocity increase significantly within associated bays, with the wave height doubling locally in case of eroding reefs in our model simulations. Since the presence of seagrass strongly depends on the hydrodynamic conditions, the response of seagrass to the future hydrodynamic conditions is projected using a habitat suitability model that is based on a logistic regression. The spatial character of the bays determines the response of seagrass. In Orient Bay, which is deeper and partly exposed to higher waves, the seagrass will likely migrate from the deeper parts to shallow areas that become suitable for seagrass because of the surf zone moving landward. In contrast, the conditions for seagrass worsen in Galion Bay for the catch-up and give-up scenario; due to the shallowness of this bay, the seagrass cannot escape to more suitable areas, resulting in significant seagrass loss. It is shown that healthy coastal ecosystems are able to limit the change in hydrodynamic conditions due to sea-level rise. Therefore, preserving these ecosystems is key for ensuring the resilience of shallow tropical bays to sea-level rise and maintaining their ecosystem services.

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The conventional sea level budget (SLB) equates changes in sea surface height with the sum of ocean mass and steric change, where solid-Earth movements are included as corrections but limited to the impact of glacial isostatic adjustment. However, changes in ocean mass load also deform the ocean bottom elastically. Until the early 2000s, ocean mass change was relatively small, translating into negligible elastic ocean bottom deformation (OBD), hence neglected in the SLB equation. However, recently ocean mass has increased rapidly; hence, OBD is no longer negligible and likely of similar magnitude to the deep steric sea level contribution. Here, we use a mass-volume framework, which allows the ocean bottom to respond to mass load, to derive a SLB equation that includes OBD. We discuss the theoretical appearance of OBD in the SLB equation and its implications for the global SLB.

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This work provides a comparison of four approaches that can be used to describe uncertainty in models of the long-term glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) process. The four methods range from pessimistic to optimistic representations of GIA uncertainty. Each estimation method is applied to selected one dimensional GIA model predictions and compared with vertical land motion data from Global Positioning System (GPS) measurements across Fennoscandia and North America. The methods are evaluated relative to two main properties: (1) their expected ability to separate non-GIA from GIA signals and (2) their estimated statistical appropriateness given a specific GIA model and data set. For the first point, non-GIA signals are considered isolated from the long-term (millennial time scale) GIA signal at sites where measurement and model uncertainties do not overlap. Across methods, the frequency and accuracy with which non-GIA signals are separated from GIA signals in GPS data display both consistent similarities and disparities. For the second point, we compare model predictions with rates of vertical land motion and relative sea level change that have been cleaned of non-GIA signals to determine the most appropriate value of model uncertainty and relate the findings to the four approaches. Best fit inferences suggest that within deglaciation centers, GIA model uncertainty is up to ~2 mm/yr (vertical land motion). Likewise, away from the former ice sheet centers, GIA uncertainty for relative sea level change is inferred to be ~0.3–0.5 mm/yr along the U.S. East Coast and ~0.6–0.8 mm/yr in the North Sea.

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The effect of glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) on the shape and gravity of the Earth is usually described by numerical models that solve for both glacial evolution and Earth's rheology, being mainly constrained by the geological evidence of local ice extent and globally distributed sea level data, as well as by geodetic observations of Earth's rotation. In recent years, GPS and GRACE observations have often been used to improve those models, especially in the context of regional studies. However, consistency issues between different regional models limit their ability to answer questions from global-scale geodesy. Examples are the closure of the sea level budget, the explanation of observed changes in Earth's rotation, and the determination of the origin of the Earth's reference frame. Here, we present a global empirical model of present-day GIA, solely based on GRACE data and on geoid fingerprints of mass redistribution.We will show how the use of observations from a single space-borne platform, together with GIA fingerprints based on different viscosity profiles, allows us to tackle the questions from globalscale geodesy mentioned above. We find that, in the GRACE era (2003-2016), freshwater exchange between land and oceans has caused global mean sea level to rise by 1:2±0:2mmyr^-11, the geocentre to move by 0:4± 0:1mmyr^-11, and the Earth's dynamic oblateness (J₂) to increase by 6:0±0:4×10^-11 yr^-11,.

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Recent studies disagree about the contribution of variations in temperature and salinity of the oceans—steric change—to the observed sea-level change. This article explores two sources of uncertainty to both global mean and regional steric sea-level trends. First, we analyze the influence of different temperature and salinity data sets on the estimated steric sea-level change. Next, we investigate the impact of different stochastic noise models on the estimation of trends and their uncertainties. By varying both the data sets and noise models, the global mean steric sea-level trend and uncertainty can vary from 0.69 to 2.40 and 0.02 to 1.56 mm/year, respectively, for 1993–2017. This range is even larger on regional scales, reaching up to 30 mm/year. Our results show that a first-order autoregressive model is the most appropriate choice to describe the residual behavior of the ensemble mean of all data sets for the global mean steric sea-level change over the last 25 years, which consequently leads to the most representative uncertainty. Using the ensemble mean and the first-order autoregressive noise model, we find a global mean steric sea-level change of 1.36 ± 0.10 mm/year for 1993–2017 and 1.08 ± 0.07 mm/year for 2005–2015. Regionally, a combination of different noise models is the best descriptor of the steric sea-level change and its uncertainty. The spatial coherence in the noise model preference indicates clusters that may be best suited to investigate the regional sea-level budget.

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Sea-level rise poses severe threats to coastal and low-lying regions around the world, by exacerbating coastal erosion and flooding. Adequate sea-level projections over the next decades are important for both decision making and for the development of successful adaptation strategies in these coastal and low-lying regions to climate change. Ocean components of climate models used in the most recent sea-level projections do not explicitly resolve ocean mesoscale processes. Only a few effects of these mesoscale processes are represented in these models, which leads to errors in the simulated properties of the ocean circulation that affect sea-level projections. Using the Caribbean Sea as an example region, we demonstrate a strong dependence of future sea-level change on ocean model resolution in simulations with a global climate model. The results indicate that, at least for the Caribbean Sea, adequate regional projections of sea-level change can only be obtained with ocean models which capture mesoscale processes.@en