Tides

Question 1

What is the tidal range?

Answer 1

The tidal range is the difference in height between high tide and low tide.

Question 2

What are tidal currents?

Answer 2

horizontal movement of water that often accompanies incoming (flood) and outgoing (ebb) tides.

Question 3

What are slack currents?

Answer 3

weakest currents, occur during flood and ebb tides.

Question 4

How does the moon affect tides?

Answer 4

The moon’s gravitational attraction, along with the sun’s, generates tides through mutual gravitational forces.

Question 5

What is Newton’s law of universal gravitation?

Answer 5

Newton’s law states that the force of gravity between two objects is proportional to their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.

Question 6

What is the approximate distance from the Earth to the Moon?

Answer 6

The distance from the Earth to the Moon is approximately 380,000 kilometers.

Question 7

What is a spring tide?

Answer 7

A spring tide occurs when the Earth, Moon, and Sun are aligned, resulting in the highest high tides and lowest low tides.

Question 8

What is a neap tide?

Answer 8

A neap tide occurs when the Earth, Moon, and Sun are at right angles to each other, resulting in the lowest high tides and highest low tides.

Question 9

How often does the spring-neap cycle occur?

Answer 9

lasts approximately 13.66 days, or around two weeks.

Question 10

What causes inequalities in spring tides?

Answer 10

changing distance between Earth and Moon, as well as the Moon’s elliptical orbit.

Question 11

What is the lunar day duration?

Answer 11

A lunar day, or tidal day, is approximately 24.84 hours.

Question 12

What are the assumptions of an equilibrium tide?

Answer 12

presence of continents, instantaneous water inertia response, and influence of friction and Coriolis effect.

Question 13

What are the characteristics of dynamic tides?

Answer 13

Dynamic tides are complex and account for factors like ocean basins and coastlines, unlike the hypothetical equilibrium tide.

Question 14

What are Kelvin waves?

Answer 14

propagate along shoreline and influenced by the Earth’s rotation.

Question 15

What is an amphidromic point?

Answer 15

a location where tidal movement is minimal, and it rotates around it.

Question 16

How are co-tidal lines useful in tide charts?

Answer 16

indicate time passage of high tide at various locations.

Question 17

What is a key feature of narrow basins regarding tides?

Answer 17

Narrow basins can develop true amphidromic systems that resonate with tidal forcing frequencies.

Question 18

What are tidal constituents?

Answer 18

known components that describe precise frequencies of tides.

Question 19

How do biological rhythms relate to tides?

Answer 19

Many organisms, such as crabs and snails, are attuned to the tidal cycle, influencing their biological rhythms and reproductive processes.

Question 20

What is the significance of spring tides for marine invertebrates?

Answer 20

Spring tides are crucial for reproductive processes in marine invertebrates.

Question 21

What influences the strength of tidal currents?

Answer 21

The strength of tidal currents is influenced by local geography.

Question 22

How do high latitudes differ in tidal patterns?

Answer 22

High latitudes typically experience diurnal tides.

Question 23

What are mixed tides?

Answer 23

occur in mid-latitude regions, show characteristics of both diurnal and semidiurnal tides.

Question 24

How does Earth’s rotation impact tidal bulges?

Answer 24

Earth’s rotation causes tidal bulges to be inclined with respect to the equator.

Question 25

Why does the moon’s elliptical orbit matter for tides?

Answer 25

causes variations in tide strength, with stronger tides occurring when the Moon is closest to Earth (perigee).

Question 26

What happens during the solar tidal force?

Answer 26

solar tidal force contributes to tides but is weaker than lunar tidal force.

Question 27

What is the tidal signaling process?

Answer 27

Tidal signals propagate around edges of ocean basins, influenced by local geology and coastline features.

Question 28

What is the tidal amplitude?

Answer 28

height of tidal wave, which can change based on various factors.

Question 29

What does the term “Circatidal rhythms” refer to?

Answer 29

biological cycles that align with tidal cycle.

Question 30

Why are tidal charts important?

Answer 30

provide information on timing and amplitude of tides for various locations.

Question 31

What tides are most common around the world?

Answer 31

The most common tides are semidiurnal tides.

Question 32

What do semidiurnal tides consist of?

Answer 32

Semidiurnal tides consist of two high tides and two low tides each day.

Question 33

What is the relationship between high tides and the moon’s position?

Answer 33

High tides occur when the moon’s gravitational pull creates a bulge in the water.

Question 34

How do tidal constituents interact?

Answer 34

Tidal constituents interact linearly to create the observed tidal response.

Question 35

How does the tide response differ from the equilibrium tide model?

Answer 35

The real tide response is dynamic and complex, unlike the simplified equilibrium tide model.

Question 36

What are the periods of the main lunar tide tidal constituent?

Answer 36

The main lunar tide, the M2 constituent, has a period of approximately 12.42 hours.

Question 37

What defines the duration of a tidal cycle?

Answer 37

The low and high tides within a given location

Question 38

How does human activity affect coastal ecosystems in relation to tides?

Answer 38

can disrupt tidal patterns, negatively impacting organisms that rely on tidal changes.

Question 39

Why is the gravitational attraction of the Sun important for tides?

Answer 39

Despite being weaker than the Moon’s effect, the Sun’s gravitational attraction still plays a role in generating tides.

Question 40

What factors lead to the dynamic nature of real tides?

Answer 40

ocean basin shape, coastline interaction, and Earth’s rotation

Question 41

How does the Earth’s position relative to the Sun affect tides?

Answer 41

influences tidal strengths during perihelion and aphelion, resulting in enhanced or reduced tides, respectively.