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5.

1 Describe the basic theory of tides :

Tide is defined as the vertical movement of


water and only goes up and down.
Current is the horizontal or sideways flow of
water. It floods in which makes the tide rise
and ebbs out which makes the tide fall.
It is this up and down tidal movement that you
should be concerned with and be able to
estimate with some accuracy, especially when
entering a potentially shallow port or harbour.
Lets explore some definitions concerning tide.
Tides are periodic rise and fall in the level of the
seas. In mid ocean where the depth of water is
large ,the tidal range is small .But near the
coasts where the waters are shallow ,the tidal
range increases. The rise and fall of tide causes
little or no horizontal movement of waters in mid
ocean but near coasts a comparatively large
horizontal movement of water is called tidal
streams. Amongst the various theories put
forward for cause of the tides ,the Equilibrium
theory of Sir Isaac Newton is one generally
accepted .
5.2 Define spring tide, neap tide, height of tide, high water and
low water, mean high water springs, mean high neaps, mean low
water springs, mean low water neaps, range, chart datum:

According to the equilibrium theory ,every particle


of water in the seas is in the state of static
equilibrium under action of the centrifugal force
due to the earths rotation,the gravitational
attraction on it by the earth ,as well as the force of
attraction on it by sun and the moon.
The force of gravitational attraction between the
two bodies is directly proportional to their masses
and inversely proportional to the square of the
distance between them.
Lunar tides:
The moon exerts a gravitational force on the earth
on the earth and the water surrounding it . The
earth except for the water surrounding it may be
considered solid and the moons gravitational force
acting on it may be considered to act at its centre
of gravity. This force acts on the solid earth as a
whole. The radius of the earth is about 4000 miles
and the average distance between the centres of
the earth and moon is 2,40,000 miles. Thus a point
P on the earths surface directly beneath the moon
is about 4000 miles (1/60 th of the dist between
the centres)closer to the moon than the centre of
the earth and a point P diametrically opposite P is
about 4000 miles further from the moon than the
earths centre.If we assume that gravitational
force of the moon acting on the earth at its centre
of gravity is F then at point P it will be (F+f) where
f is the additional force due to the point P being
closer to the moon by 4000 miles.By similar
argument the force at Pwill be (F-f). At point
Q,R,S,and T etc the force is equal to that at C ,that
is equal to F.
Considering the point P ,the force of attraction on
the earths surface is F,while that on the water at
the surface is (F+f).Since the water surrounding
the earth is non rigid this differential force tends
to raise the water away from the surface of the
earth towards the moon.At point P the force of
attraction on the earth is F while that on the water
is F-f .This differential force tends to move the
earth towards the moon leaving the water behind.
Thus the level of the water above the earths
surface both at P and Prises above the mean sea
level .From the above it is clear that tides are not
directly caused by the attraction of the moon on
the earth or the water surrounding it .It is caused
by the differential forces of attraction on the earth
and the surrounding water.
At points Q,R,S and T which are at the same
distance from the moon as
the centre of the earth the differential force being
nil,the tide raising
force is also nil.Thus the overall effect is to
produce a ellipsoid of water
around the earth with its major axis in the
direction of the moon .
As the earth rotates within this ellipsoid the level
of water
at a place would rise and fall producing high and
low waters respectively.
This is known as Lunar tide.
Since any position the earths surface would
experience two high waters and the two low
waters between one culmination of the moon and
the next and as the interval between successive
culminations of the moon is about 24h 50m ,the
period of lunar tide (period between successive
high or successive low waters )is about 12h 25m
.when the moon has a northerly or southerly the
major axis of the ellipsoid will lie in the direction of
the moon that is at an angle to the plane of the
equator.
This produces unequal intervals between
successive high and low waters and also unequal
heights at successive high waters. There is a high
water of height m at a place X in the figure.X will
complete one rotation along its parallel of latitude
in 24 hrs.When X has been carried round to Y by
the earths rotation,it will have a low water .As
place X rotates further to position Z it will again
have a high water,the height of which is only n
.Thus successive high waters may differ
considerably in height .At W it will again have a
low water.
It can be also seen from the figure that interval
between the HW experienced when at Z and the
LW experienced when at W is the period of
rotation Z to W.The interval between that LW and
the next HW at X is period of rotation from W to
X.Since this period is larger than that from Z to
W ,it can be seen that the interval between a HW
and succeeding LW may differ considerably from
the intervals between that LW and the next HW.
The Sun also has a similar effect but to a lesser
extent that of the moon.Though the force of
attraction of the sun on the earth is about 200
times than that of the moon,the differential force
of attraction of the Sun(its tide raising force)at any
point on the earth is lesser than that of the moon
mainly because the sun being 93 million miles and
the 4000 miles radius of the earth does not
produce a significant diff between the suns
distance to the earths centre and its surface.
The tide raising force of the sun to that of the
moon is in the ratio of about 3:7 .The sun therefore
causes another ellipsoid of water with its major
axis in the direction of the sun.But this ellipsoid is
less elongated from the one produced by the
moon.As the earth rotates within this ellipsoid ,the
sun causes two high waters and two low waters in
24 hrs at any place.The solar tide therefore has a
period of 12 hrs.
SPRING TIDES:
The combined effect of the lunar tide raising forces
and the solar tide raising forces causes the
LUNISOLAR tide. At full and new moons when the
sun is in conjunction and opposition respectively
with the moon, these two tide raising forces act in
the same line producing very high high waters and
very low low waters. The range of tide then would
be large.These are known as SPRING tides.

NEAP TIDES:
When the moon is in quadrature the tide raising
force due to the sun and that due to the moon act
in direction 90 to each other. The solar tide then
tends to produce a HW at points where LW occurs
due to the lunar tide and vice versa. Thus at such
times ,the lunisolar high watersare not very high
and the lunisolar low waters are not very low.
Therefore the Range of tide then is not very
large.These are called NEAP tides.

PRIMING ANG LAGGING OF TIDES:


At full and new moons since the tide raising forces
of the sun and moon act in the same direction the
lunisolar high waters would occur at the time of
moons upper or lower transits.When the moon is
in quadrature ,the tide raising forces of the moon
and sun act at right angles to each other,but due to
the predominance of the moons tide raising
force,the luni-solar high waters would still occur at
the times of moons upper and lower transits.
At intermediate positions of the moon ,the luni-
solar high waters may occur before or after the
upper and lower transits of moon .when moon is in
the first or third quarters ,the solar high water
occurs before the lunar high water. The luni-solar
high water occurs before the moons transit. The
tide is then said to PRIME.
During the second and the last quarters of the
moon ,the solar high water occurs after the lunar
high water. The luni-solar high water therefore
occurs after the moons transit. The tide is then
said to LAG.
The explanation of the equilibrium theory of tides
was made on the assumption that the entire earth
is covered by water to a uniform height.However
due to intervening land masses causing bodies of
water to have different natural periods of
oscillations and due to uneven depth of oceans and
also due to the effect of the tidal waves entering
shallow areas.The above described rhythmic
oscillations are distorted considerably producing
more complex patterns of tide at different
localities on the earth. It is possible that the tides
are further modified by resonant oscillations
of water bodies as well as by the coriolis forces
due to the earths rotations .The fact that tides are
more regional in character rather than a world
phenomenon supported these ideas.The
oscillations set up by the deep oceans by the tide
raising forces are of small amplitude.Thus the ebb
and flood tides are not noticeable in mid ocean.In
shallow waters near the coasts the wave amplitude
which was probably not more than one meter in
the open ocean increases considerably.The range
of tide in certain funnel shaped estuary of the
world is as large as 10 mtrs.
Laplace was the first to suggest that tidal
oscillations are actually composed of several
harmonic motions caused by various periodic
forces.The actual tides at any place are made up of
a large number of harmonic constituents,some of
which are diurnal and some semi diurnal.Tidal
predictions are made with the help of mechanical
aids or electronic computers using 10 to 62
harmonic constituents.These predictions are
tabulated in the tide tables.
Chart Datum: The low water level ,to which all
depths indicated on the chart and all heights of
features which are periodically covered and
uncovered by the sea are referred.The datum is so
chosen that the tide will not usually fall below that
level.
Height of tide:is vertical distance between the
chart datum and the sea level at that time.
High water:Highest level reached by the sea during
that tidal oscillation.
Low water:The lowest level reached by the sea
during that tidal oscillation.
Mean high water springs :MHWS is average height,
throughout the year of two successive high waters
during 24 hrs ,in each semi-lunation when the
range of tide is greatest.
Mean low water springs: MLWS is average height
through out the year of two successive low waters
during 24 hrs in each semi-lunation when range of
tide is greatest.
Mean high water neaps: MHWN is the average
height throughout the year of two successive high
waters during a period of 24 hrs when range of
tide is least.
Mean low water neaps: MLWN is the average
heights through out the year of two successive low
waters during a period of 24 hrs in each semi-
lunation when the range of tide is least.
Highest and Lowest astronomical tide :HAT and LAT
are the highest and lowest tides that is possible to
predict at standard ports disregarding
meteorological conditions.
Tidal stream or Tidal current : is the periodical
horizontal movement of the sea waters due to
raising forces of the moon and the sun.

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