Importance of Tides of Ocean Water
The periodical rise and fall of the sea level, once or twice a day, mainly due to the attraction of the sun and the moon, is called a tide. The moon’s gravitational pull to a great extent and to a lesser extent the sun’s gravitational pull, are the major causes for the occurrence of tides. Another factor is the centrifugal force, which is the force that acts to counter the balance the gravity.
Since tides are caused by the earth-moon-sun positions which are known accurately, the tides can be predicted well in advance. This helps the navigators and fishermen plan their activities. Tidal flows are of great importance in navigation. Tidal heights are very important, especially harbors near rivers and within estuaries having shallow ‘bars’ at the entrance, which prevent ships and boats from entering into the harbor. Tides are also helpful in desilting the sediments and in removing polluted water from river estuaries. Tides are used to generate electrical power (in Canada, France, Russia, and China). A 3 MW tidal power project at Durgaduani in Sunderbans of West Bengal is underway.
Tides are important to us because we need water to survive and stay hydrated and if they were no tides and the whole world was flat we could not survive. And also some people like to surf and they use waves and tides to surf.
The importance and significance of tides are mentioned below:
- The tide cleans out the refuse materials and wastes from the mouth of the river.
- It promotes navigability in rivers.
- Due to natural flushing activity, the width and depth of the river are maintained. The ship can easily move through the river.
- Somewhere tide also provides potential sources for generating electricity.
- The tides make river salty and they keep the water in motion. So that the water does not freeze easily.
- Tides devastating during the oceanic cyclone.
