Chapter 10

Tides
 Look For The Following Key Ideas
In Chapter 10

✓ Tides are huge shallow-water waves-the largest waves in the ocean. Tides
are caused by a combination of the gravitational force of the moon and sun
and the motion of Earth.

✓ The moon's influence on tides is about twice that of the sun's.

✓ Gravity and inertia cause the ocean surface to bulge. Tides occur as Earth
rotates beneath the bulges.

✓ The equilibrium theory of tides deals primarily with the position and
attraction of the Earth, moon, and sun. It assumes that the ocean conforms
instantly to the forces that affect the position of its surface, and only
approximately predicts the behavior of the tides.

✓ The dynamic theory of tides takes into account the speed of the long-
wavelength tide wave in water of varying depth, the presence of interfering
continents, and the circular movement or rhythmic back-and-forth rocking of
water in ocean basins. It predicts the behavior of the tides more accurately
than the equilibrium theory.

© 2006 Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc.

 Key Ideas Continued…

✓ Tides caused by the interaction of the gravity of the sun, moon, and Earth are
known as astronomical tides. Meteorological tides, caused by weather, can
add to or detract from the height of tide crests.

✓ The rise and fall of the tides can be used to generate electrical power, and
tides are important in many physical and biological coastal processes.

© 2006 Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc.

 Tides and the Forces That
Generate Them

What are the characteristics and causes of tides?

• Tides are caused by the gravitational force of the moon and

sun and the motion of earth.

• The wavelength of tides can be half the circumference of

earth. Tides are the longest of all waves.

• Tides are forced waves because they are never free of the
forces that cause them.

© 2006 Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc.

Tide-generating
forces
➢ Barycenter
between
Moon and
Earth
➢ Mutual
orbit due to
gravity and
motion
Fig. 9.1
Tide-producing forces
➢ Resultant forces = differences between centripetal
and gravitational forces
➢ Tide-generating forces are horizontal components

Fig. 9.4
 The Equilibrium Theory of Tides

How Earth’s rotation beneath the tidal bulges produces high and low
tides. Notice that the tidal cycle is 24 hours 50 minutes long because the
moon rises 50 minutes later each day.
© 2006 Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc.
 The Moon and Tidal Bulges

A lunar day is longer than a solar day. A lunar day is the time that elapses between the
time the moon is highest in the sky and the next time it is highest in the sky. In a 24-
hour solar day, the moon moves eastward about 12.2°. Earth must rotate another 12.2° -
50 minutes – to again place the moon at the highest position overhead. A lunar day is
therefore 24 hours 50 minutes long. Because Earth must turn an additional 50 minutes
for the same tidal alignment, lunar tides usually arrive 50 minutes later each day.
© 2006 Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc.
 The Moon and Tidal Bulges

The bulges follow the

moon. When the moon’s
position is north of the
equator, the bulge
toward the moon is also
located north of the
equator.

The opposite inertia

bulge is correspondingly
below the equator.

© 2006 Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc.

 The Moon and Tidal Bulges

How the changing position of the moon relative to Earth’s equator produces higher
and lower high tides. Sometimes the moon is below the equator, and sometimes it
is above. Follow the flag eastward around Earth, and see a “high” high tide
followed by a “low” high tide. © 2006 Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc.
 Sun and Moon Together

top: The positions of the Sun, the moon and Earth during a spring tide.
bottom: The positions of the Sun, the moon and Earth during a neap tide.

© 2006 Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc.

 Sun and Moon Together

Tidal records for a typical month at (a) New York and (b) Port Adelaide, Australia. Note
the relationship of spring and neap tides to the phases of the moon. MHW = mean high
water, MLW = mean low water
© 2006 Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc.
Other complicating factors: elliptical orbits

◼ Tidal range greatest at perihelion (January) and

perigee
◼ Tidal range least at aphelion (July) and apogee
◼ Perigee and apogee cycle 27.5 days

Fig. 9.12
Declination and tides
➢ Unequal tides (unequal tidal ranges)

Fig. 9.13
Idealized tide prediction
➢ Two high tides/two low tides per lunar day
➢ Six lunar hours between high and low tides
Real tides

➢ Earth not covered completely by ocean

➢ Continents and friction with seafloor
modify tidal bulges
➢ Tides are shallow water waves with speed
determined by depth of water
➢ Tidal bulges cannot form (too slow)
➢ Tidal cells rotate around amphidromic
point
 The Dynamic Theory of Tides

➢What are some key ideas and terms describing tides?

• The dynamic theory of tides explains the characteristics of

ocean tides based on celestial mechanics (the gravity of the
sun and moon acting on Earth) and the characteristics of fluid
motion.

• Semidiurnal tides occur twice in a lunar day

• Diurnal tides occur once each lunar day

• Mixed tides describe a tidal pattern of significantly different

heights through the cycle

• Amphidromic points are nodes at the center of ocean

basins; these are no-tide points.

© 2006 Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc.

The Dynamic Theory of Tides

The worldwide
distribution of the three
tidal patterns.

Most of the world’s ocean

coasts have semidiurnal
tides

© 2006 Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc.

 Tidal Patterns and Amphidromic
Points

The development of amphidromic circulation

(a) A tide wave crest enters an ocean basin in the Northern Hemisphere. The wave trends to the right
because of the Coriolis effect (b), causing a high tide on the basin’s eastern shore. Unable to continue
turning to the right because of the interference of the shore, the crest moves northward, following the
shoreline (c) and causing a high tide on the basin’s northern shore. The wave continues its progress around
the basin in a counterclockwise direction (d), forming a high tide on the western shore and completing the
circuit. The point around which the crest moves is an amphidromic point (AP).
© 2006 Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc.
 Tides in Confined Basins

How do tides behave in confined basins?

The tidal range is determined by basin configuration.

(above) An imaginary amphidromic system in a broad, shallow basin.

© 2006 Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc.
 Tides in Confined Basins

Tides in a narrow basin. Note that a true amphidromic system does not
develop because space for rotation is not available.

© 2006 Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc.

Tides and marine life
➢ Tide pools and life
➢ Salt Ponds

Tide-generated power

➢ Renewable resource
➢ Does not produce power on demand
➢ Possible harmful environmental effects
 Ocean Energy

➢ Commercial ocean energy developments

have been based on both the movement
of water and on its temperature.
➢ Both wave action and tidal flows have
been used to generate electricity.
➢ Ocean thermal energy conversion uses
the temperature difference between deep
ocean water and solar-heated surface
water to run a turbine and generate
electricity. © 2006 Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc.
 Figure 8.17a: The La Rance River Tidal Power Plant in St. Malo and Dinard, France.

Courtesy of French Technology Press Office

© 2006 Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc.
 Wave Energy -- CETO Buoyant Actuator

Device consists of a single piston pump attached to the sea floor with a float
tethered to the piston. Waves cause the float to rise and fall, generating
pressurized water, which is piped to an onshore facility to drive hydraulic
generators or run reverse osmosis water desalination
© 2006 Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc.
Ocean Current Turbines

© 2006 Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc.

 Chapter 10 Summary

Tides have the longest wavelengths of the ocean's waves. They are caused by a
combination of the gravitational force of the moon and the sun, the motion of the
Earth, and the tendency of water in enclosed ocean basins to rock at a specific
frequency. Unlike the other waves, these huge shallow-water waves are never
free of the forces that cause them and so act in unusual but generally predictable
ways. Basin resonances and other factors combine to cause different tidal
patterns on different coasts. The rise and fall of the tides can be used to
generate electrical power, and are important in many physical and biological
coastal processes.

© 2006 Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc.

End of Chapter 10