What do the terms diurnal, semidiurnal, and mixed mean, as related to tidal patterns?
| What do the terms diurnal, semidiurnal, and mixed mean, as related to tidal patterns? |
There are different tidal patterns across the globe, and due to its variation, the tidal wave is divided into three classifications: diurnal, semidiurnal, and mixed tidal pattern.
AS there are large continents spread across the globe, with the rotation of the earth, the tidal wave is blocked by the continents and create intricate patterns that differ significantly from the nearby ocean or other areas of the same ocean. Three basic tidal patterns happen along the significant shorelines.
Areas like the Gulf of Mexico witness one high tide and one low tide daily basis. The tidal period of the diurnal pattern is twenty-four hours and fifty minutes, and these patterns are also common along the coast of Southeast Asia.
With two high tides and two low tides about the same height each lunar day, the semidiurnal tidal pattern occurs twice daily. They are standard on the Atlantic Coast of the USA. Semidiurnal tidal pattern lasts for twelve hours and twenty minutes.
Mixed tidal patterns display features of both diurnal and semidiurnal tides. These tidal patterns are the most visible along the Pacific Coast of North America. A mixed tidal pattern has a tidal period of twelve hours and twenty minutes. However, they often shift to the diurnal period.
When the high and low tides vary in height, the tidal pattern is named a mixed semidiurnal tide.
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