Earth Science Stack Exchange
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Questions tagged [tides]

Tides are the periodic fall and rise of sea-level due to gravitational forces of the moon, sun or earth-rotation. When asking questions specifically about tides, use this tag and also include the [ocean], [moon], [sun] or [earth-rotation] tag if appropriate.

When Earth, moon and sun are approximately lining up (full or new moon) gravitational forces are added up and tides are stronger than usual. You call this phenomenon spring tides. When Earth, moon and sun form a right angle (first or third quarter of moon) gravitational forces partially cancel out each other and tides are weaker than usual. You call this phenomenon neap tides.

(Don't mix them up with solar tides in the atmosphere, which are inertia-gravity waves caused by the absorption of solar radiation in the the atmosphere.)

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If the distance between Earth and the moon were changed, would the effects be immediate?

I need your help on a possible (but perhaps low probability) scenario for how the distance between Earth and the moon could change: say a large object from the Kuiper Belt manages to make its way into the inner system. It passes by our moon such…
Leigh P.
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Difference between two types of spring tides that occur every month

A spring tide is an unusually high tide that ooccurs when the sun, earth, and moon are colinear. I understand why this would be the case when the earth is on the far side of the sun and moon. The cumulative gravitational effect of the sun and moon…
aquagremlin
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Is it possible to know the tides of a particular location 50 years or 100 years from now?

Assuming no change in sea level (for the sake of argument), is it possible to know the high and low tides a half century or more in the future? Is information like this available to the general public?
Bob516
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What proportion of the energy input to the ocean tide system comes from the sun?

The earth's ocean tides are primarily driven by the moon, but also by the sun. The relative strengths of the related tidal constituents varies from place to place across the globe. But what is the proportion of the energy entering the global system…
Semidiurnal Simon
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How do I determine the phase lag for a tide

I want to determine the height of a sine wave for some tidal constituents for which I would use the following equation: ()=cos⁡(−), where H is the amplitude, is the speed of rotation, t is the time elapsed and is the phase lag. If I have got the…
Claire
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"Major Lunar Standstill" causing high tides?

The Major Lunar Standstill, as the cycle is called, has been followed by serious starwatchers since the Babylonians. Like clockwork every 18.6 years, it triggers severe tide spikes, swells, and floods, especially in the tropics. Now, the charts…
Keith McClary
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were can I find the Greenwich equilibrium argument for tidal prediction(Vo+u)?

the closest i've got was with a table in the following manual that only went up to the year 2000. https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/publications/SpecialPubNo98.pdf
sfdsfdsf
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