ASTR241

Earth – Moon System

Precession
Tides Illustrated

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 Precession Tip of precession axis
of Earth. P = 25,800 yr
A rapidly rotating plastic body will distort
from a spherical shape oblate spheroid.
Short axis corresponds to rotation axis.

Gravitational attraction m
from Moon and/or Sun

rmoon

Torque vector pointing out of page

Earth Equatorial radius = Req = 6378.14 km

Earth Polar radius = Rpol = 6356.75 km

Fig. 4.1. Gravitational torque on Earth’s equatorial bulge results in the precession of the rotation axis.

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Torque and Precession

P = 25,800 yrs

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 Clarification: Tidal bulges versus equatorial bulge

• Do not confuse Earth’s tidal bulges with its equatorial bulge.

• The equatorial bulge is an oblate distortion due to the Earth’s rotation, and
the fact that the Earth is a ‘plastic’ body. It has an amplitude of ~ 11 km
• The tidal bulges are a prolate distortion due to the gravitational pull of the
Moon and the Sun. They have a typical amplitude of ~ 1 m on open ocean
and 0.2 m on land.
• Irregularities of the ocean floor can cause dramatic local variations in the height of
tides.
• For example, the Bay of Fundy between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, is a long
bay gradually narrowing toward its head

• Since the Moon makes an upper transit every 24h50m, observers on Earth experience
high tide every 12h25m as one of the tidal bulges reaches their location

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 Bay of Fundy: Unique example of extreme stages of tides

Tides are typically 1 m in the open

ocean. Tidal bulges funneled into
the Bay of Fundy can produce
tides as high as 16 m above the
low tides.

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Why are the Bay of Fundy Tides the Highest?
• The average tidal range of all oceans around the globe is 1 m.
• The tidal difference in the Bay of Fundy reaches up to 16 m because the bay
has a few distinct features:
• a substantial amount of water
• a unique shape and size that causes resonance
• A liquid in a basin has a characteristic period of oscillation and, once set in
motion, the liquid will rhythmically slosh back and forth in this time period.
The surface rises first at one end, then at the other, while the level in the
middle remains nearly constant. The speed at which it oscillates depends on
the length and depth of the basin.
• In the Bay of Fundy, the oscillation is in perfect sync with the Atlantic ocean
tide flooding into the bay every 12h 56 min, which results in ‘resonance’.
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 Differential Gravitational Force of Moon on Earth

Because the Earth has a large, nearby Moon, its shape is measurably distorted by the tidal effect of
the Moon.

EARTH
MOON

Fig. 4.3: Differential gravitational force of the Moon on the Earth

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Differential force on Earth from
Moon as a function of longitude

Fig. 4.4: Geometry for computing tidal distortion of the shape of the Earth

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Tidal distortion vectors

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 https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/tide_predictions.html
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 • Spring tides occur when the tidal
bulges produced by the Sun and
the Moon are aligned
• Neap tides occur when the tidal
bulges are at right angles.
Note:
‘Spring tides’ have nothing to do
with the season. They occur at any
time of the year. The name refers to
the fact that high tides spring
higher when the Sun and the Moon
are aligned.
‘Neap tides’ means ‘lacking power’

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