sea level

 

the level of the sea, which serves as the datum used for measurement of land elevations and ocean depths. Theoretically, one would expect sea level to be a fixed and permanent horizontal surface on the face of the earth, and as a starting approximation, this is true. However, a number of factors operate to cause variations in sea level ranging up to several meters from place to place and to cause long-term global variations, often severe enough to cause flooding and damage to coastal zones. Sea levels vary greatly from one location to another, i.e., between Nova Scotia and Florida sea-level heights differ at about 16 in (40 cm). Locally the levels of the surface of the world's oceans are disturbed by wind-driven waves and tides. Sea level therefore fluctuates in periods ranging from seconds to a year as a result of these factors. Thus for some purposes it is necessary to know the mean sea level (MSL) in a particular area, determined by averaging the elevations of the sea's surface as measured by mechanical tide gauges over long periods of time. A number of other factors result in sea-level differences between one place or time and another. These may complement or counteract one another to result in a net rise or fall in mean sea level at a particular time and place. These factors include water temperature and salinity, air pressure, change of season, the amount of runoff from streams, and the amount of water stored as ice or snow on land. Characteristics of the earth also cause differences in sea level. Satellite measurements of the gravity field have shown that the earth is not a perfectly smooth sphere, making defining sea-level measurements difficult. Worldwide, or eustatic, sea levels have changed over time, such as the last ice age when sea level was as much as 333 ft (100 m) lower in many areas than today. These changes are due to a multitude of reasons. Past transgression (or rise) or regression (or lowering) of the seas have been caused mainly by the addition or removal of water from continental ice caps. Such sea-level fluctuations may be due to changes in climate that cause the ice to melt or accumulate. Theories of climate change include differences in carbon dioxide or oxygen levels, volcanic activity, or a change in the sun's energy. The increase in carbon dioxide caused by the burning of fossil fuel and deforestation of tropical rain forests may one day increase the overall temperatures on the earth, thus causing a rise in sea level. When the sun's rays warm the earth, carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases trap the radiation, causing a “greenhouse effect” and global warming.

Mean sea level (MSL) is the average (mean) height of the sea, with reference to a suitable reference surface. Defining the reference level [1], however, involves complex measurement, and accurately determining MSL can prove difficult.

Mean Sea Level as used by military Flight Surgeons and Aerospace Units: Using pressure to measure altitude results in two other types of altitude. True or MSL (mean sea level) is the next best measurement to absolute - and in some ways better. MSL tells you how far you are above an imaginary line at sea level. If you then know the elevation of terrain, the next step is to determine how far you are above ground. It also tells you how thin the air is, which determines your physiological response to that altitude. True Altitude (MSL) has been adjusted for local high or low pressure conditions. FL or Flight Level is another related term that is measured in hundreds of feet. At a standard pressure that correlates to 18,000 feet, the flight level is one-eight-zero.

Measurement

To an operator of a tide gauge, MSL means the "still water level"—the level of the sea with motions such as wind waves averaged out—averaged over a period of time such that changes in sea level, e.g., due to the tides, also get averaged out. One measures the values of MSL in respect to the land. Hence a change in MSL can result from a real change in sea level, or from a change in the height of the land on which the tide gauge operates.

In the UK, mean sea level has been measured at Newlyn in Cornwall and Liverpool on Merseyside for decades, by tide gauges to provide Ordnance Datum for the zero metres height on UK maps.

Difficulties in utilization

To extend this definition far from the sea means comparing the local height of the mean sea surface with a "level" reference surface, or datum, called the geoid. In a state of rest or absence of external forces, the mean sea level would coincide with this geoid surface, being an equipotential surface of the Earth's gravitational field. In reality, due to currents, air pressure variations, temperature and salinity variations, etc., this does not occur, not even as a long term average. The location-dependent, but persistent in time, separation between mean sea level and the geoid is referred to as (stationary) sea surface topography. It varies globally in a range of ± 2 m.

Traditionally, one had to process sea-level measurements to take into account the effect of the 228-month Metonic cycle and the 223-month eclipse cycle on the tides. Mean sea level does not remain constant over the surface of the entire earth. For instance, mean sea level at the Pacific end of the Panama Canal stands 20 cm higher than at the Atlantic end.

Despite the difficulties, aviators flying under instrument flight rules (IFR) must have accurate and reliable measurements of their altitudes above (or below - see Schiphol Airport) mean sea level, and the altitude of the airports where they intend to land. That problem can compound when landing on an aircraft carrier in a gravitational anomaly. In aviation mean sea level is increasingly being defined according to the reference ellipsoid defined by the World Geodetic System. Compared to a geoid, an ellipsoid is simpler to model mathematically and therefore lends itself to use with the Global Positioning System.

Several terms are used to describe the changing relationships between sea level and dry land. When the term "relative" is used, it connotes change that is not attributed to any specific cause. The term "eustatic" refers to global changes in the sea level due to water mass added (or removed from) the oceans (e.g. melting of ice sheets). The term "steric" refers to global changes in sea level due to thermal expansion and salinity variations. The term "isostatic" refers to changes in the level of the land masses due to thermal buoyancy or tectonic effects and implies no real change in the volume of water in the oceans. The melting of glaciers at the end of ice ages is an example of eustatic sea level rise. The subsidence of land due to the withdrawal of groundwater is an isostatic cause of relative sea level rise. Paleoclimatologists can track sea level by examining the rocks deposited along coasts that are very tectonically stable, like the east coast of North America. Areas like volcanic islands are experiencing relative sea level rise as a result of isostatic cooling of the rock which causes the land to sink.

On other planets that lack a liquid ocean, planetologists can calculate a "mean altitude" by averaging the heights of all points on the surface. This altitude, sometimes referred to as a "sea level", serves equivalently as a reference for the height of planetary features.

Changes through geologic time

Sea level has changed over geologic time. As the graph shows, sea level today is very near the lowest level ever attained (the lowest level occurred at the Permian-Triassic boundary about 250 million years ago). For this reason, sea level is more prone to rise than fall today, and small changes in climate can have noticeable effects during human lifetimes.

During the most recent ice age (at its maximum about 20,000 years ago) the world's sea level was about 130 m lower than today, due to the large amount of sea water that had evaporated and been deposited as snow and ice in northern hemisphere glaciers. The majority of the glaciers had melted by about 10,000 years ago, but minor glacial melting has continued (with occasional reversals) throughout recorded human history. More detail about the changes in sea level for the past 140,000 years can be seen by accessing this chart.

Hundreds of similar glacial cycles have occurred throughout the Earth's history. Geologists who study the positions of coastal sediment deposits through time have noted dozens of similar basinward shifts of shorelines associated with a later recovery. This results in sedimentary cycles which in some cases can be correlated around the world with great confidence. This relatively new branch of geological science linking eustatic sea level to sedimentary deposits is called sequence stratigraphy.

See also

• Above mean sea level
• Sea level rise
• World Geodetic System

External links

• Permanent Service for Mean Sea Level
• Global sea level change: Determination and interpretation
• Environment Protection Agency Sea level rise reports
• Properties of isostasy and eustasyzh-classical:海平面

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