What determines the height of the tides?

Tides and Water Levels The relative distances and positions of the sun, moon and Earth all affect the size and magnitude of the Earth’s two tidal bulges. When oceanic tidal bulges hit wide continental margins, the height of the tides can be magnified.

What determines high tide and low tide?

They are caused by the gravitational forces exerted on the earth by the moon, and to a lesser extent, the sun. When the highest point in the wave, or the crest, reaches a coast, the coast experiences a high tide. When the lowest point, or the trough, reaches a coast, the coast experiences a low tide.

What two factors determines when tides will occur?

Tides are the daily changes in the level of the ocean water at any given place. The main factors that causes tides are the gravitational pull of the Moon and the Sun (Figure 14.10). Figure 14.10: High tide (left) and low tide (right) at Bay of Fundy on the Gulf of Maine in North America.

What 3 factors cause tides?

The tides–the daily rise and fall of the sea’s edge–are caused by the gravitational forces between the earth, the moon and the sun.

Why do tides vary in height?

Because of the angle of the moon with respect to the earth, the two high tides each day do not have to be of equal height. Tides also differ in height on a daily basis. The daily differences between tidal heights is due to the changing distance between the earth and the moon.

Which factors are responsible for high and low tides apex?

The moon’s gravitational pull or tidal force causes two bulges on Earth (and its water) – one at the point closest to the Moon and the other on the direct opposite side of the planet. As the Earth turns, a region gets closer to or further from the bulges. The further it is from one, the lower the tide.

What does tide height mean?

This is the vertical distance the water rises, or falls, due to the tide. A predicted tide height of 3.2 feet means the water will be 3.2 feet higher than the depth indicated on the chart.

What happens during a high tide?

What happens during high tide? During high tide, the ocean’s waters creep up the shore, deepening the water. This happens as a body of water gets closer to one of the two bulges created by the moon’s gravitational force.

How do you calculate tide range?

Subtract the low tide from the high tide to determine tidal range. The tide tables themselves are predictions based on previous experience and the figures for times and heights can vary according to weather conditions and atmospheric pressure.

How often do high tides occur?

every 24 hours and 50 minutes
Because the Earth rotates through two tidal “bulges” every lunar day, coastal areas experience two high and two low tides every 24 hours and 50 minutes. High tides occur 12 hours and 25 minutes apart.