Booklet 3- How are tides formed and what are the different tytpes?

Question 1

What is the littoral zone?

Answer 1

• The area of land between the cliffs or dunes on the coast.
  -covered by the sea at different point in time

Question 2

What are the different sources of energy at the coast?

Answer 2

• Wind
• Tides

Question 3

How do tides supply energy to the coast?

Answer 3

• Solar energy concentrated at the equator and spread over larger surface area at the poles
• Causes zones of high and low pressure
• Wind blows from high to low pressure
• Coriolis-Bay of Biscay has strong seas due to coriolis

Question 4

How does wind supply energy to the coast?

Answer 4

• Caused by the gravity pull of the moon and the sun pull
• Moon pulls the water in the ocean towards it

Question 5

Neap and spring tides

Answer 5

• Neap tides-when the sun and moon are at right angles to each other, neap tides occur, when the tidal range is lowest
• Spring tides- twice a month the Earth, Moon and Sun are aligned which causes a very large gravitational pull, bulge on side of the earth

Question 6

What are ocean currents?

Answer 6

• Topography and lattitude can effect ocean currents
• Attributes of the land and sea effect the size, shape and speed and direction of ocean currents
• Surface currents are wind driven but deep ocean currents are desnity driven

Question 7

What are rip currents?

Answer 7

• Form due to altering and shallower and depper areas of the beach topography
• also due to an obstacle blocking the waves washing directly to sea
• these feeder waves find an opening around the obstacle

Question 8

What are rip tides? how are they different to rip currents?

Answer 8

• strong offshore current that is caused by the tide pulling the water through an inlet along a barrier beach
• rip current is the tidal force pulling the waves rather than the backwash of waves