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X- Curie

EARTH TIDES AND

TIDES ON ITS
MOON

Tides

are the rise and fall of sea levels caused

by the combined effects of the
gravitational forces exerted by the
moon and the sun and the rotation of the
Earth.

Earth Tides
Although the mass of the moon is
much less than that of the sun it is also
much closer to the Earth and hence its
tidal pull is about twice that of the sun. A
tidal day lasts 24 hours and 53 minutes,
the time for the moon to make one
complete revolution about the earth.
However, the complete tidal cycle takes
19 years because of two complications:

1.

The moon and earth have elliptical orbits so

their distance from one another and the sun
varies. Since tidal forces are due to the pull
of gravity and the force of gravity is inversely
proportional to distance, the height of tides
will be a function of distance to the sun and
moon. Furthermore, tidal forces can be
additive when the sun and moon are aligned
relative to earth producing very high (Spring)
tides.
The moon is closest to Earth at point perigee
and farthest at point apogee. One complete
cycle is once every 25.5 days.

2. The tilt of earth's axis also affects the

position of the sun and moon with
respect to the equator. This causes local
variation in tidal height as a function of
latitude and season.

Cycles of Earth Tides:

A diurnal cycle is any pattern that recurs every 24
hours as a result of one full rotation of the Earth.
*One Earths rotation = 1 day
In climatology, the diurnal cycle is one of the most
basic forms of climate patterns.
A semi-diurnal cycle refers to a pattern that
occurs about every twelve hours or about twice
a day. Often these can be related to lunar tides,
in which case the interval is closer to 12 hours
and 25 minutes.

Common Types of Earth Tides:

a.

Semi-diurnal Tides
have a period of 12 hrs and 25 min, and
theoretically have a wavelength of more
than half the circumference of Earth.
When the moon is directly over the
Earths equator, all locations on the
planet except at the highest latitudes
would rotate through the two tidal bulges
and experience two equal high tides and
two equal low tides per tidal day.

Tidal Day
Tidal day is the time of the rotation of
the Earth with respect to the Moon, or
the interval between two successive
upper transits of the Moon over the
meridian of a place, approximately 24.84
solar hours (24 hours and 50 minutes)
or 1.035 times the mean solar day. It is
also called lunar day.

Tidal bulge
Tidal bulge, also known as tidal
force, is a secondary effect of
the force of gravity and is responsible for
the tides. It arises because the
gravitational force exerted by one body
on another is not constant across
its diameter. The nearest side is
attracted more strongly than the farthest
side. Thus, the tidal force is differential.

High Tides and Low

Tides
Based on the definition above, the
levels of bodies of water rise when they
are nearest the moon (high tides), while
the levels fall when the bodies of water
are farthest from the moon (low tides).

b. Mixed Tides
occur at most locations on the north and
south of the equator wherein two
unequal high tides and two unequal low
tides happen per tidal day.
Diurnal inequalities can be seen and
these inequalities are differences in
height between successive high (or low)
tides.

c. Diurnal Tides
when the moon and its associated tidal
bulges are either north or south of the
equator, most points at high latitudes in
theory would be impacted by one tidal
bulge and would experience one high
tide and one low tide per tidal day.
common along Gulf Coast of U.S.

Not well understood what causes the

different types of tides, but probably a
function of the geometry of the coastline.
Open coastlines such as West Coast
experience mixed tides, while partially
enclosed basins like the Caribbean
experience diurnal tides with highs and
lows varying by less than a meter.

Other Tides:
Tropic Tides
happen when the moon is above the
Tropic of Cancer or Tropic of Capricorn,
the diurnal inequality is at its maximum.
b. Equatorial Tides
happen when the moon is above or
nearly above the equator, the diurnal
inequality is at its minimum.
a.

c. Spring Tides
- occur when the moon is at its new or full
moon phase as viewed from Earth, the
lunar- and solar-related ocean bulges
also line up (and add up) to produce the
highest high tide and lowest low tide.
About every two weeks, the positions of
the sun, moon, and Earth form a straight
line and the moon enters the new or full
moon phase. (figure A)

d. Neap Tides
also called fortnightly tides.
*1 fortnight = 14 days
occur between spring tides, when the
moon is at the first and third quarter
phases and the sun's pull on Earth is at
right angles to the pull of the moon.
unusually low high tide and unusually
high low tide (figure B)

Tidal Currents:
e. Flood tide/ current
Is the incoming flow of water as a high tide is building.
f. Ebb tide/ current
happens when the tide flows out.
g. Slack tide occurs between two such periods, when little or no
tidal current exists.
h. Riptide
- a strong tidal current that conflicts with other flows can cause a
riptide below the water's surface. Riptides are often visible as a
patch of dark, calm water among incoming surf. A violent tidal
disturbance on the water's surface is referred to as a tide rip.
Tide rips are characterized by choppy water that may look like
whitewater rapids surrounded by otherwise calm or even glassy
seas.

1. Ocean tides are created by combining the gravitational

pull of the moon and the sun, combined with the rotation
of the earth.

2. The tides are really long-period waves that appear as

the rise and fall of the sea as they reach the coastline .
High tide is the crest of the long-period wave and low
tide is the trough of the long-period wave.

3. The earth rotates on its axis once every 25 hours and

the moon rotates around the earth once every 27 days.
4. Most places in the ocean experience two high tides
and two low tides each day. There are places that
experience only one each day.

5. The tidal troughs are separated by about 12 hours.

Because the moon rotates around the earth its not in the
same place at the same time every day.

6. Alignment of the earth, the moon and the sun cause

the most gravitational pull resulting in maximum tides.
7. There are times during the moons rotation that it is on
the same side of the earth as the sun. This occurs at the
new moon and full moon phase. This results in larger
tidal troughs. These are called Spring tides.
8. There are times in the moons rotation that it is at right
angles to the earth sun line. This is at the first quarter
and last quarter phase. This causes interference between
the sun and the moons gravitational pull and results in
weaker tidal troughs. These are called Neap Tides.
9. The lowest tide height difference occurs out in the
deepest part of the ocean at approximately 1.6 feet.
10. The highest tide height difference in the world is in
the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia, Canada at
approximately 15 Meters!

Worlds Highest Tides

The Guinness Book of World Records states the

world's highest tides to be in the Minas Basin,
N.S., with the maximum tidal range recorded at
16.8 meters (54.6 ft).
Parrsboro, the largest seaport on the Minas
Basin, affords the best view of this tidal
phenomenon. At this point the tide floods and
ebbs over 3.2 kilometers (2 mi.) of tidal flat
from the low water mark to the head of the
harbour. Each phase of the cycle takes
approximately 5 hrs and 40 min. which results
in each succeeding high or low water mark
range an average 14m. (45.5 ft.) while the
harbour heights are about 7.5 m (24 ft.).

Tides on the Earths Moon

If the Moon had oceans, how much time would elapse between it's high
tides?
14.5 days is 1/2 the synodic month. ( it is actually closer to 14.76 days.)
This is the time it takes for the Moon to go from full moon to new moon.
(or from the from a view point on the moon, 1/2 the time it takes for the
sun to travel from zenith to zenith.
But even if we to ignore the Sun's effect, there would still be a variation
of tide height on the moon, due to the fact that the moon travels in an
elliptical rather than circular orbit. This causes two effects.
The first is simply due to the fact that this causes the moon to vary in
distance from the Earth, thus varying the strength of the tidal force
exerted on the moon. This will cause the tidal bulges to "throb" in and
out a little.

The second is due to Librations. This causes the

moon tonot present the exact same face to the
Earth at all times.
As the moon orbits the Earth in its elliptical orbit, it
has to speed up and slow down at perigee and
apogee. The moon's rotation rate however remains
constant. Thus over the course of a revolution, the
Moon's rotation alternately speed's ahead and lags
behind of its revolution. From the point of view of the
Earth, it is like the moon is swinging slightly back
and forth around its axis. Thus, the tidal bulge, which
always points towards the Earth, will roam back and
forth a few degrees over the course of a Lunar orbit.

Now these variations follow the period of the Moon's sidereal

month. (the time it takes for the moon to apparently travel from
fixed star to fixed star.)
This period is 27.32 days.
The variation due to the distance of the moon takes place over
the whole period, while the libration period completes a cycle
every 1/2 period or 13.66 days. The successive "high" tides [will
be] 13.66 days apart , with the high tides alternating in height.
To get a complete picture, you would then have to factor in the
effect of the Sun's tides with its 14 .76 day period.

Imagine that you are sitting above the earth-moon system

looking down. You are using the stars as a fixed background, so
they don't move from your perspective. Now draw two line[s] from
the center of the Earth out to the moon's orbit. One line joins to a
fixed star and the other with the sun. Starting off we'll assume that
these lines are pointing in the same direction (the star is directly
behind the sun) and the moon starts out on this line.
After 27.32 days, the moon will have returned to the fixed star
line. This is the sidereal month that the librations follow. But
during this time, the Earth will have traveled some 27 along in its
orbit, which means that the sun line will have moved this much,
so the moon will have to continue in its orbit for another 1.1 days
to return to it. This is the synodic month the solar tides follow. This
means that the solar tide will have a [slightly] different period than
the libration tide, causing an additional [variation] in the heights of
the tidal bulge.

The same thing happens on Earth with the difference in

period between the Lunar tide and Solar tide. The Solar tide
has a period of 12 hrs (1/2 a solar day) , While, as you
pointed out, the Lunar tide has a period of about 12 1/2
hours. (12 hr, 27 min, 21 sec to be more exact.)
As a result, the Solar and Lunar tides drift in and out of
"phase" with each other, sometimes pulling together, and
sometimes fighting each other. This is why high and low
tides vary from day to day in height. the greatest extremes
are during new and full moons and the least during the first
and last quarters.
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