Resonance and tidal bores in the Bay of Fundy
Here are some pictures I took of high and low tides at the Bay of Fundy
(between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia on the eastern shore of Canada).
The Bay of Fundy has the worlds largest tides (up to 50 ft in some places)
due to a resonance between the frequency of the tides and the natural
frequency of the bay. Water in the bay happens to want to slosh back
and forth with the same frequency as the tides (roughly six hours). The
result is an extremely large change in the water levels between low and
high tide.
Here the boats are afloat at high tide but not at low.
Note the water line in the pictures (way above the heads of the people
in the pictures).
In this picture the water at high tide completely covers the hole in
the rock:
Tidal Bore.
Because of the large tides when the tide changes from going out to coming
in there is a surge of water which goes back up the various rivers and
channels that lead into the Bay of Fundy. The pulse of water coming
up the channel can be as high as a meter (this one was about 40 cim). The
pictures are about 10 seconds apart, the second picture is with a
zoom.
Physics at IUS: http://physics.ius.edu/
Contact Dr. K. Forinash,
for comments/suggestions/corrections.