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Why the low-lying islands of the Pacific and Indian Oceans are expanding?

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Abstract

Recent works have shown that the low-lying islands of the Pacific and the Indian Ocean are expanding rather than shrinking. Here we explain why, by analyzing the long-term tide gauge records, corrected for subsidence by Global Positioning System monitoring. We find the absolute sea levels are rising much slower than in climate model predictions. The relative rate of rise is highly variable but on average is a modest + 0.46 mm/year, subject to an almost trivial acceleration of + 0.0091 mm/year2.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Deanship of Research and Graduate Studies, Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University, Khobar, Saudi Arabia

    Alberto Boretti

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  1. Alberto Boretti
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Correspondence to Alberto Boretti.

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Responsible Editor: Zhihua Zhang

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Boretti, A. Why the low-lying islands of the Pacific and Indian Oceans are expanding?. Arab J Geosci 14, 2727 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-021-08972-6

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