SELEN User Manual - Version 2.9

The open source program SELEN solves numerically the so–called “Sea Level Equation” (SLE) for a spherical, layered, non–rotating Earth with Maxwell viscoelastic rheology. The SLE is an integral equation that was introduced in the 70s to model the sea level variations in response to the melting of late–Pleistocene ice–sheets, but it can also be employed for predictions of geodetic quantities in response to present-day melting of continental ice-sheets. SELEN can compute vertical and horizontal surface displacements, gravity variations and sea level changes on a global and regional scale. SELEN (acronym of SEa Level EquatioN solver) is particularly oriented to scientists at their first approach to the glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) problem and, according to our experience, it can be successfully used in teaching. The current release (2.9) considerably improves the previous version of the code in terms of computational efficiency, portability and versatility. As far as we know, SELEN is the only open source program designed for solving the SLE. SELEN 2.9 solves the SLE following the classical theory of ?. In the future release of SELEN (SELEN 3.0), which is under development, two important new features will be introduced: the rotational feedback on sea level and the horizontal migration of shorelines in response to sea level change. This User guide describes the essentials of the theory behind the SLE, and provides instructions for the configuration and execution of SELEN.