Ü Tidal Range the Difference in Level Between a High Tide and a Low Tide

Tides

ü  Tides are high and low water levels caused by the gravitational pull of the moon and the sun and the spinning of the Earth.

ü  Tidal movements result mainly from the pull of the Moon’s gravity on the ocean. The Sun is much farther from Earth than the Moon is. Thus, the Sun has less than half as much influence on the tides as the Moon does, despite the Sun’s much greater size.

ü  Tides occur in a regular daily cycle where the water slowly rises and falls

ü  Tidal Range – the difference in level between a high tide and a low tide

ü  Each day there are about two high tides and two low tides

ü  If you look at the water moving up a beach as the tide rises, you may think that the volume of the ocean is increasing. However, the bulge of water that produces a high tide along one coastline draws water away from the other side of the ocean.

ü  As the Earth turns on its axis, different locations on Earth’s surface face the Moon. This causes a sequence of high and low tides that follow each other around the world.