"Tide Questions"

1. What is tidal range?

A Tidal range is the difference in height between a high tide and the next low tide.

2. What causes high and low tides?

The gravitational force between the earth and the moon causes both high and low tides. A high tide is when the water on the oppostie side of the moon tends to lag behind the rigid earth, since they are attracted less strongly than average. A low tide is where the force on the water match the average pulls of the moon on the eath closely during right angles to the moon.

3. What causes Spring and Neap tides?

Tides with large range that occurs around times of the full moon are called Spring tides. While Neap tides are tides with a small range that occur when the moon is in quarter.

4. How does tidal range effect the types of organisms and the shape and size of the organisms?

Because of the tidal range, marine organisms tend to dry out
or desiccate, when exposed to air. In coping with this problem,
they either run or hide, or clam- up, or they simply allow themselves to dry up. Crabs and snails simply run and hide to stay wet and cool. Other creatures who can't run and hide, such as clams and periwinkles use the "clam- up" method to create a seal to hold water during the low tide. Other creatures who can't run, hide, or clam- up such as chitons and seaweeds simply dry up as the tide goes down and quickly recover as water wets it tissues when the tide comes in. These organisms also come in different shapes and colors to help them survive. Like the tropical snail, it has ridges on it's shell to help keep it cool and the white color on the snails help to reflect from the sunlight. Every creature's physical features and methods help them to stay alive and safe.