Tide

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Tides are the periodic rise and fall of sea level resulting from the differential gravitational forces exerted primarily by the Moon and the Sun, combined with inertial effects associated with the Earth–Moon system’s orbital motion and the Earth's rotation. While these astronomical forcings generate the fundamental tidal potential, actual observed tides are strongly modified by terrestrial factors, including the geometry of ocean basins, continental boundaries, bathymetry, the coriolis effect, frictional dissipation within shallow seas and the tidal resonance of coastlines. Tides vary on timescales ranging from hours to years due to a number of factors, which determine the lunitidal interval. To make accurate records, tide gauges at fixed stations measure water level over time. Gauges ignore variations caused by waves with periods shorter than minutes. These data are compared to the reference (or datum) level usually called mean sea level. While tides are usually the largest source of short...

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