MAST667-010 Coastal Oceanography: From Physics to Fish
Spring 2001
Instructor Andreas Münchow
Homework #3 (due Mar. 12, 2001)
I. Construct a 1-month as well as a 2-day long time series of hourly values of tidal sealevel from the following harmonic constituents for Lewes, DE (phases are relative to the first high water on Jan. 1, 1984 which occurred at 10:45pm local time, 15:45 GMT):
|
Tide (period T) |
Amplitude (cm) |
Phase (degrees) |
|
M2 (T=12.42 hrs) |
58.1 |
-2.5 |
|
N2 (T=12.66 hrs) |
13.3 |
-83.1 |
|
S2 (T=12.00 hrs) |
10.9 |
-75.3 |
|
K1 (T=23.93 hrs) |
10.7 |
-28.5 |
|
O1 (T=25.82 hrs) |
8.9 |
31.6 |
|
M4 (T=06.21 hrs) |
1.1 |
-121.9 |
(a, 15 pts) Identify the "spring-neap cycle" in your graph and explain it using the table above as an aide. How many of the above five constitutents do you need to have a "spring-neap cycle?"
(b, 15 pts) Identidy the "diurnal inequality" in your graph and explain it using the table above as an aide. How many of the above constitutents do you need to have a "diurnal inequality?"
(c,15 pts) Identify the "tidal asymetry" and explain it using the table above as an aide. How many of the above constituents do you need to have a "tidal asymetry?"
(d, 5 pts) Do the above harmonic coefficient describe a flood-dominant (short flood and long ebb) or an ebb-dominant (long flood and short ebb) estuarine system?
II. Please answer the questions below as best as you can (10 pts each):
(a) How does the earth’s rotation affect the tide generating force?
(b) What is the effect of the vertical component of the tide generating force?
(c) What is the effect of the horizontal component of the tide generating force?
(d) Why are the tides in the Great Lakes hardly noticable?
(e) Does the tide generating force affect land masses?