The tide gauge record from the eastern US as a potential indicator of Greenland ice sheet mass balance

Tide gauge data from the US east coast display a distinct spatial variation. Previous studies [e.g. Davis & Mitrovica, Nature 379, 331, 1996] have shown that a dominant component of this variation can be explained by the ongoing deformation of this region in response to the most recent deglaciation of North American ice sheets. As a consequence, the observations have been employed to constrain models of glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA). Other recent studies indicate that there might be a significant contribution to the observed sea-level changes from either or both of Greenland mass balance [Tamiseia et al., J. Geophys. Res. 106, 30, 849, 2001] and ocean steric effects [Miller & Douglas, Nature 428, 406, 2004]. In this paper we consider the sea-level contribution from these additional processes in order to determine: (1) whether the tide gauge data can be employed to set useful constraints on recent (past ~50 yr and longer) Greenland ice sheet mass balance; and (2) whether previous GIA parameter estimates derived using models that did not include these non-isostatic processes are significantly biased.