Recent subsidence rates along the Texas and Louisiana coasts as determined from tide measurements

Abstract

Sea level and tide level rose at several locations along the Louisiana and Texas coasts during the years 1959–1970, from as little as 0.5 cm/yr at Port Isabel, Texas, to a maximum of 4.3 cm/yr at South Pass, Louisiana. These rates were determined by comparing tide records along the Louisiana and Texas coasts with the long-term tide record at Pensacola, Florida, a location assumed to be stable for the purpose of this study. At locations for which observations were available before 1959 the rise in sea (or tide) level was greater from 1959 to 1970 than during the decade prior to 1959. This rise in sea level is attributed to land subsidence.