Essay on "Oceanography Oceanic Tides Differ Greatly"

Essay 4 pages (1011 words) Sources: 3

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Oceanography

Oceanic Tides Differ Greatly Depending on Location

The tides of the ocean are unique to geographical location. Each individual location is affected differently by the pull of the moon and sun on the earth's bodies of water (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 2010). Thus, location is a primary determinate of the types of tides, and how ocean water levels are affected during both high and low tides.

Semi-diurnal tides are most common. In the span of one day, the earth's rotation hits the point of high tide, where there is the greatest force pulling the water outward, then returns to low tide, and back again to the original point of high tide (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 2010). According to research, "This results in two high tides and two low tides in a day," (Ocean Link 2010). These types of tides are most common on the Eastern Atlantic Seaboard, which explains how the Florida Keys and Connecticut tides are both semi-diurnal (Pidwirny 2008). They also occur closer to the equator, based on the incline of the moon's orbit around the earth (Ocean Link 2010). However, the data is recovered from a winter month, where the sun's inclination is at the highest point. Research states that "During these months the 'bulges' in the ocean are offset the most from the equator, and it is most likely to encounter only one tide cycle per day, or diurnal tides," (Ocean Link 2010).

Diurnal tides are much different. In these types of tides, there is only one high and one low tide per 24-hour period. They tend to occur in extremes of the northern and southern hemispheres (Ocean Link 2010). Diurnal tides occur typically in the northern Gulf of Mexico (Pidwirny 2008). Thus, Eagle Point Texas, the only point in the northern region of the Gulf of Mexico covered by the data is the only diurnal tide

Lastly, mixed tides show a combination of the elements of the two tide types. They are common on the West Coast of the United States (Pidwirny 2008). Hence, the Alaskan tide covered in this research is a mixed tide, showing elements of both diurnal and semi-diurnal tides. According to research, mixed tides show "successive high-water and low-water stands differ appreciably," (Pidwirny 2008). Therefore, these tides have the greatest disparity between high and low tide water levels.

The data correlates with the West coast of Alaska being dominated by mixed tides. There are two low and high tides per day, because Alaska returns to the same point of tide twice a day. However, it is clearly a mixed tide here. This data set shows the greatest disparity between the tides, with enormous differences between the high and low tide water level measurements. Around January 9th there is a greater disparity between the water levels of the tides. The high tide increases, but at the same time the low tide decreases in water level. There is a great decrease seen in the context of the low tide, the water levels drop dramatically, as… READ MORE

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