Tides Cause Tides- daily variations in sea level Caused by gravitational pull of moon and sun Moon’s influence on tides is about twice that of sun because it is much closer to the Earth This creates two bulges on either side of Earth Newton’s Equilibrium theory- simple explanation of tides that assumes the Earth is perfectly uniform, ocean is very deep, and that there are no landmasses
Causes Laplace’s Dynamic Theory- there are several tidal bulges because the imperfect sphere of Earth, seasons, time of month, continents, and Coriolis effect Amphidromic point- points where water does not rise and fall with the tides Tides move in a pinwheel-shaped standing wave around the amphidromic point
Tidal Patterns: Semidiurnal- 2 equal high and low tides daily Diurnal – 1 high and low tide daily Mixed- 2 unequal high and low tides each day
Types of Tides Spring tide- extreme tides during each month Caused by Earth, sun and moon being aligned Occur during the full or new moon
Neap tide- weak tides during the month Caused by sun, Earth, and moon forming a right angle Occurs during the 1st and 3rd quarter of moon phase