Tidal resonance - Definition and Overview

In oceanography, tidal resonance is a phenomenon perhaps best exemplified in the Bay of Fundy. The time it takes for a large wave to travel from the mouth of the bay to the opposite end, then reflect and travel back to the mouth of the bay, coincidentally matches the time from one high tide to the next. The result of this coincidence of timing is that the repeating wave is reinforced by the tidal rhythm, and consequently the world's highest tides are found in that bay.

This concept of tidal resonance differs from another sort of resonance resulting from tides, called tidal locking, which causes a moon's rotational period to coincide with the period of its revolution around the planet that it orbits, so that one side of the moon always faces the planet.

See also

seiching, standing wave, cavity resonator