Reply to: Discussion of Rennie, A.F. and Hansom, J.D. (2011) ‘Sea level trend reversal: land uplift outpaced by sea level rise on Scotlandʹs coast’. Geomorphology, 125 (1), 193–202. By S. Dawson, V.A. Powell, R.W. Duck and D.J. McGlashan, and by I. Shenna

It is accepted that relative sea-level change is not the reverse of vertical land (crustal) movement, and that the interpretation of an observed reduction in isostatic rebound on the basis of the data presented in Rennie, A.F. and Hansom, J.D. (2011) ‘Sea level trend reversal: land uplift outpaced by sea level rise on Scotlandʹs coast’ Geomorphology 125, 193–202, is not clearly justified. Nevertheless, we believe the paper to be useful in pointing out the high rates of Scottish relative sea-level rise over the last few decades and we repeat the warning that short-term rates may prove to be inaccurate estimators of the long-term rates needed for coastal infrastructure investment.