Tides, tidal mixing,

and internal waves

 7.1 Introduction

Tides are created by the gravitational pull of the moon and the sun and are
most familiar as a rise and fall in the level of the sea twice a day. In situations
where tidal mixing is less strong and the water column becomes stratified,
the interaction of the tidal currents with the bottom topography may lead to
the formation of internal waves on the thermocline at the tidal period. These
waves propagate shoreward and decay causing vertical mixing and the
redistribution of nutrients, with important effects on phytoplankton
production, distribution of zooplankton and larval fishes.
 7.2 THE PHYSICS OF TIDES

7.2.1 Tide-generating forces and the equilibrium tide

Tides in the ocean result from a slight imbalance between two

forces: the first is the gravitational pull of the moon and sun, and
the second is the centripetal force that is required to keep the
oceans water moving along with the rest of the earth in a circular
path through space.
Fig. 7.01 The earth and moon viewed from above the north
pole showing the ocean (shaded) pulled by the moons
gravity into a tidal bulge under the moon. An observer is at O
on the equator
The moons gravitational pull on the earth decreases with distance from
the moon. Particles on the side closest to the moon experience a
greater gravitational pull than do particles on the side away from the
moon. Because the moon's distance is very far, the gravitational
attraction on a particle of water on the earth due to the sun is about
one-half that due to the moon.
The important effect of the tide due to the sun arises because its tidal
bulge moves relative to the moons tidal bulge throughout the lunar
month. When the two tidal bulges coincide they add together to create
the extra high tides called the spring tides. When the tidal bulges are
opposed their effects tend to cancel one another, creating the neap
tides.
 7.2.2 Tides in the real ocean
The equilibrium tide helps us to understand some of the main principles of
tides, but when it comes to predicting the tide in the real ocean this theory is
of little help because the water that is raised up as the tidal bulge has to
move around a world that is spinning on its axis and that is cluttered with
continents.
This calculation is normally done by measuring the height of the tide for at
least a month, then decomposing the record into sinusoidal constituents.
There are three main categories of constituents (Pond and Pickard 1983): (i)
semi-diurnal, period about 12 hours; (ii) diurnal, period about 24 hours; and
(iii) long period, greater than 24 hours.
 The form of the tide, or the pattern of the waters rise
and fall, is not the same at all locations around the
oceans but varies according to the relative
importance of the different constituents. The four
main classifications of the form of the tides are
illustrated in Fig. 7.05.

Fig. 7.05 Tidal records through March 1936 at four coastal stations illustrating variations in
the amplitudes of the semi-diurnal (M2 + S2) and diurnal constituents (K1 + O1). Adapted
from Defant (1958).
 7.2.3 Moving the tidal bulge over the earth:
Kelvin waves

The other kind of wave, the deep water wave, is the one normally seen
generated by the wind on the oceans surface. One important feature of
shallow-water waves that sets them apart from the deep-water waves is that
the velocity of the wave motion is constant throughout the depth of water
while the motion in the wind waves dies out a few meters below the surface.
Thus the velocity in the tidal wave is approximately constant throughout the
depth of the ocean. Such flow is sometimes referred to as a barotropic
wave more specifically a barotropic Kelvin wave.
Because the tidal waves cause the water to move relative to the earth for a
long time the Coriolis force is an important feature of the motion. The effect
of the Coriolis force is to push the water to the right in the northern
hemisphere. The Coriolis effect causes the amplitude of the wave to
increase toward the shore and leads to the expression that the wave is
trapped against the shore. Such a trapped Kelvin wave causes the water
particles to move back and forth parallel to the coast as the wave goes by.
 7.2.4 Tidal Current

In the deep ocean the vertical range of the tide, is only a few
centimeters and tidal currents tend to be only a few centimeters
per second. Over the continental shelves, however, the currents
can be in the meters per second range as they are associated
with much higher tidal amplitudes.
The direction of tidal currents varies greatly and depends on the way in which
the tidal wave propagates in the local area. Along a straight coast or in a
confined channel the currents tend to be parallel to the shore. In open areas
the tidal wave is not constrained to be rectilinear, and currents in general will
have both northsouth (v) and eastwest (u) components.