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Oceanography Slides SHB Chapter8

ocean chapter 8

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Kogulan Murugan
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37 views

Oceanography Slides SHB Chapter8

ocean chapter 8

Uploaded by

Kogulan Murugan
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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CHAPTER 8

Tides
Introduction
 Tides:
 Are periodic raising and lowering of average sea level
that occurs throughout the oceans.
 As sea level rises or falls, the edge of the sea slowly
shifts seaward/ landward daily.
 Often destroying sand castles built during low tide.
 Are so important that accurate records have been kept
at nearly every port in the world.
Tides as waves
 Are fundamentally very long and regular shallow-
water waves.
 Their wavelength are measured in thousands of
kilometers.
 Their heights range to more than 15 meters.
 The gravitational attraction of the Sun and Moon
generate ocean tides.
 Thus, affecting every particle of water from the
surface to the deepest ocean basin.
Tide-generating forces
 It is well known that gravity ties sun, planets and
moons together.
 The Earth and Moon rotate around a common
centre of mass called Barycenter.
 Located 1600 km beneath Earth’s surface.
 Gravity also tugs every particle of water on Earth
towards the Moon and Sun. Thus creating tides on
Earth.
Resultant and tide-generating forces

 Gravitational attraction between the particle and the


Moon supplies the centripetal force.
 But the supplied force is different than the required
force. This is because of gravitational attraction
varies with distance from the Moon.
 This difference creates tiny resultant forces
(mathematical differences between the gravitational
and centripetal forces).
Tidal bulges
 According to equilibrium tide theory, there are two tidal bulges for an ideal Earth:

 One toward the Moon


 One away from the Moon

 Would experience two high tides each day if standing on the Equator.

 The tidal period (the time between high tides) would be 12 hours.

 In most places, high tides occur every 12 hours 25 minutes. Tides depend on the Lunar day
which is exactly 24 hours, 50 minutes,, 28 seconds long.

 The solar day is measured from the time the sun is on that meridian of an observer, and is
24 hours.

 A solar day is shorter than a lunar day. The extra 50 minutes is caused by the Moon’s
movement in its orbit around Earth.
Earth’s rotation
 The tides appear to move water in toward shore
(the flood tide) and away from shore (the ebb tide).

 Earth’s rotation carries various locations into and


out of the tidal bulges.

 Alternating high and low tides are created as Earth


constantly rotated.
The monthly tidal cycle
 Is 29 ½ days. It is how long it takes the Moon to complete an orbit around
Earth.

 Spring tide:
 Tidal range is large
 Happen during new Moon and full Moon

 Constructive interference between the lunar and solar tidal bulges.

 Neap tide:
 Tidal range is small

 Happen when Moon in ¼ and ¾ phases.


 Destructive interference between the lunar and solar tidal bulges.
Tidal Cycle
Effects of elliptical orbits
 Earth revolves around the Sun in an elliptical orbit
such that Earth is 148.5 million kilometers from the
Sun during the Northern Hemisphere winter and
152.2 million kms during summer.

 Thus, the distance between Earth and the Sun


varies by 2.5% over the course of a year.

 The Moon revolves around Earth in an elliptical


orbit, too.
 Tidal ranges are largest when the Moon is closest to Earth (called Perigee).

 The greatest tidal ranges occur in January.

 When spring tides coincide with perigee, tides are especially large.

 Is storm occurs during this time, damage could be extreme.

 Maximum tides occur when Earth is closest to Sun (called Perihelion),


when the Moon is closest to Earth (called Perigee) and the Earth-Moon-
Sun system is aligned (called Syzygy).
 Occurs every 1600 years.
Tidal patterns
 Diurnal
 Single
high and low tide each Lunar day.
 Common in shallow inland seas.

 Semidiurnal
2 high and low tides each lunar day.
 The heights of successive high tides and successive low tides are

approximately the same.

 Mixed
 Have characteristics of both diurnal and semidiurnal tides.
 Successive high or low tides have significantly different height.

 The most common in the world.


Coastal tidal currents/ Streams
 Rotary current:
 The current that accompanies the slowly turning tide crest in a Northern
hemisphere.

 Reversing current:
 The rotary current changes to reversing current that moves into and out of restricted
passages along a coast.
 It is occur in deep ocean whilst reversing tidal currents close to shore.
 Also exist in the mouth of bays.

 Flood current:
 Is produced when water rushes into a bay or river with incoming high tide.

 Ebb current:
 Is produced when water drains out of bay or river before low tide.
Reversing tidal current

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