434 



Tides in the Mediterranean and Adjacent Seas 

 Table 63. Harmonic constants in the Bering Sea 



this shallow section north-east of the line from Cape Navarin to the Pribilof 

 Islands simply co-oscillates with the tide in the deep sea in the south-west. 

 According to Harris, the island of St. Lawrence would be the starting point 

 of a node going south-eastwards to Cape Romanzof, and there would be 

 a counter clockwise amphidromy in the adjacent wide Norton Sound. Only 

 observations can give evidence as to actually prevailing conditions. Accord- 

 ing to the harmonic constants of St. Michael, there are in the Norton Sound 

 extreme diurnal tides, whereas for the other areas the ratio governing the 

 character remains below 1. Remarkable are the small amplitudes of the S 2 

 tide, and also the age of the tide appears to be very much disturbed. In Port 

 Clarence (Cape Prince of Wales) the semi-diurnal tides have been shifted 

 to such an extent that the semi-diurnal spring tides occur almost at the time 

 of quadratures and the diurnal spring tides at the time the moon is in the 

 equator. 



16. The Tides of the Gulf of California 



The simple orographical configuration of this outstretched gulf would 

 make us expect tides of a simple nature. The gulf has the form of a canal 

 closed at one end 1 100 km (660 st. miles) long, whose depth decreases regularly 

 from an average depth of 1670 m (5470 ft) at the opening to very small depths 

 at the closed end. The cross-section narrows near the islands Tiburon, San 

 Esteban and San Lorenzo, at a distance of about two-thirds of its length from 

 the opening. The few available values for establishments and range indicate 

 that in the larger southern section up to the narrowing just mentioned, high 

 water occurs nearly simultaneously (Guaymas, 27-90 N.; 3 h 28 min G.M.T., 

 range 1-2 m (3-9 ft)), whereas in the shallow section high water occurs about 

 6 h later, Colorado estuary 9 h 54 min (range at spring tide 8 to 9 m (26-29 ft), 

 at neap tide 5 to 6 m (16-19 ft)). This points to a standing wave with a nodal 

 line at the narrow section of the gulf. The period of the free oscillation of 

 the entire gulf is computed at 7-66 h, so that v = 0-62. The nodal line will 

 be at a distance of approximately two thirds of the length, which corresponds 

 to the observations. For the inner shallow section alone which has a length 

 of 390 km (240 land miles) mean depth 160 m (480 ft), Krummel computes 

 a period for the free oscillation of 12-14 h (using a correction for the opening). 



