Tides
Tides
Marine Science /
Earth Science Notes
Tides are the patterns of rise and fall of the ocean’s surface
○ Caused by the gravitational pull of the moon and sun
■ The Earth’s rotation around the sun and the
moon’s revolution determine tides
■ The moon’s pull is stronger – it’s closer
○ Tides are unrelated to ocean currents!
How does the How do
moon control
the tides? tides work?
video high tide video
low tide
low tide
high tide
• Tides occur in all coastal areas and large lakes
• Tidal range is the vertical difference in water level
between high and low tide
– varies by location
– ranges from 0 ft to 40+ ft
high tide line
tidal range
low tide line
Notebook Activity #1 Moon Phases of the Tides
1. Use the globe cutouts to create the diagrams of NEAP and SPRING tides that are shown on
the next two slides.
2. Use two different colors to illustrate the tidal bulge from both moon and sun on each of the
diagrams.
● Different moon phases cause different tides
○ Spring tide occurs during new and full moon
■ moon and sun are aligned with Earth - at one point
during the day, the pull is in opposite directions
■ largest tidal range of the month
● lowest low tides and highest high tides
full moon new moon
bulge from moon’s pull
bulge from sun’s pull
○ Neap tide occurs during 1st and 3rd quarter moons
■ moon and sun at a 90⁰ angle to one another
■ Earth feels pull in both directions
■ smallest tidal range of the month
3rd
quarter
moon moon’s pull
sun’s pull
1st
quarter
moon
• Tides create a daily circulation of water
in bays and estuaries
– The inflow of tide is called flood tide
– The outflow of tide is called ebb tide
draw this
– No tidal movement is called slack tide
slack
eb
eb
bt
b
ide
it de
tid
e
tid
e
→ o d
→
o
→ od
fl
flo
slack →
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What is an Estuary?
An estuary is a partially enclosed, coastal
water body where freshwater from rivers and
streams mixes with salt water from the
ocean.
Estuaries, and their surrounding lands, are
places of transition from land to sea.
Although influenced by the tides, they are
protected from the full force of ocean
waves, winds and storms by landforms
such as barrier islands or peninsulas
The sheltered waters of estuaries also support unique communities of
plants and animals specially adapted for life at the margin of the sea.
flood tide
ebb tide
• Without daily tidal circulation, some estuaries would become hypoxic
(low oxygen) or hypersaline (very salty) without a constant mixing
– The tides flow into estuaries through passes and inlets (bringing in
ocean water), then turn around a few hours later, flowing back out
Notebook Activity #2 Types of Tides
1. Use the blank tide table cutouts to copy the examples of the three types of tides on the
following two slides.
2. Label the high and low tides.
tide height
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• Tidal patterns vary with location
– Semidiurnal tides – 2 high and 2 low tides a day
high tide
high tide
tide height
low tide low tide
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tide height – Diurnal tides – one high and low each day
high tide
low tide
– Mixed tides – two unequal high and low
high tide
tide height
high tide
low tide
low tide
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