Trend of sea level change in the Hugli estuary, India

Abstract

Trends of annual sea level records of four tidal observatories of the Hugli estuary—Sagar, Gangra, Haldia, and Diamond Harbour—are analysed from the records of Permanent Service for Mean Sea Level (PSMSL). The rates of sea level changes for the stations are found to be –3.82, +0.89, +2.43 and +4.85 mm yr^–1 respectively, connoting a significant positive relation between landward distances of the stations and the rates of sea level rise. This seems to be mainly controlled by disequilibrium in the morphological state of the landward-narrowing estuary with some contribution from sediment autocompaction. Sea level trends of the Hugli have no apparent relation with erosion and accretion of its tidal islands.