+ Reply to thread
Results 1 to 11 of 11

Thread: Places with Extreme Tides..... why?

  1. #1
    Stegodon
    Registered
    Mar 2009
    Location
    Doha, Qatar
    Posts
    145

    Default Places with Extreme Tides..... why?

    As a child my family vacationed in Maine. The tides there are legendary. It was explained to me that the ocean is so wide at that point that .... something something something.

    OK, so why are tide extreme in one place and not another?
    Just assume that everything I say is sarcastic.

  2. #2
    Maximum Proconsul silenus's avatar
    Registered
    Feb 2009
    Location
    Southern California
    Posts
    1,404

    Default Re: Places with Extreme Tides..... why?

    It has to do with the shape of the bay, among other things. The Bay of Fundy, for example, gets its extreme tides from tidal resonance. But the shape of the estuary, the shape of the ocean floor, the currents, the wind, and a number of other factors affect the tides in any given place.
    "The Turtle Moves!"

  3. #3

    Default Re: Places with Extreme Tides..... why?

    Here is a thought experiment to illustrate one factor of extreme high tides.

    Consider a V-shaped bay, with the wide part of the V facing the ocean, and the narrow part of the V being your tiny, terrified town. The moon's gravity pulls a large volume of water from the sea into the mouth of the V. As the day progresses, and the moon shifts over your town, the large volume of water in the mouth of the V will be pulled toward your town. As it does so, the big volume of water is being crammed into a smaller and smaller volume of bay. By high tide a large volume of water has been hoinked into the apex of the V, and you have a very high tide.

  4. #4
    Stegodon
    Registered
    Feb 2009
    Location
    Santa Fe, NM
    Posts
    259

    Default Re: Places with Extreme Tides..... why?

    It seems to me that the slope of the beach may have a lot to do with it. It takes a whole lot more water to raise the level a foot when the beach is nearly horizontal, as compared to a vertical cliff.

  5. #5

    Default Re: Places with Extreme Tides..... why?

    Just as you say. Imagine the V shaped bay to be a cone shaped (half-cone shaped) bay and the effect is even stronger.

  6. #6
    Stegodon
    Registered
    Mar 2009
    Location
    Doha, Qatar
    Posts
    145

    Default Re: Places with Extreme Tides..... why?

    Thank you. This is still unclear to me. Anyone else? Type slowly.
    Just assume that everything I say is sarcastic.

  7. #7
    Elephant
    Registered
    Mar 2009
    Location
    New Zealand
    Posts
    503

    Default Re: Places with Extreme Tides..... why?

    Go with the funnel - or cone.

    fill it up with rice, let the rice drop out the narrow end. The rice (water) moves slowly at the top, because the moon's tidal pull (gravity) is working over a wide area. As the rice comes out the end it's moving with more force (climbing higher up the beach) because the same amount of force is acting on a smaller area.

    Have I got it?
    There's no point in being grown up if you can't be childish sometimes. - Doctor Who

  8. #8

    Default Re: Places with Extreme Tides..... why?

    Or take a v shaped hallway. Put the bar at the narrow end of the V - this is the attractive force, standing in for gravity. At the open end of the V people are milling around, chatting, nice party, lots of room. As they get further down the narrow part of the V, the same number of people is crowded into a smaller and smaller space, until they are bunched up on top of each other at the bar - high tide!

  9. #9
    Stegodon
    Registered
    Mar 2009
    Location
    Doha, Qatar
    Posts
    145

    Default Re: Places with Extreme Tides..... why?

    What if I took a pastry-decorating cone thing and filled it with rice? I squeeze a little at the wide end and the force is multiplied at the narrow end?
    Just assume that everything I say is sarcastic.

  10. #10
    Miss Entropy Angua's avatar
    Registered
    Apr 2009
    Location
    Huntsville, AL
    Posts
    235

    Default Re: Places with Extreme Tides..... why?

    Yep! Its like that. Water is essentially incompressible, so you have a certain volume of water being packed into a container of increasingly smaller surface area but limitless height; so the water goes where it can -- namely up, i.e. a high tide.

  11. #11
    Member
    Registered
    Mar 2009
    Posts
    29

    Default Re: Places with Extreme Tides..... why?

    Roll, Tide!




    I've been waiting for this!

+ Reply to thread

Posting rules

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts