OS101 Tides Worksheet 1920 PDF

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OS101 Activity 1A: Plymouth Sound Tides and Weather

OS101 – Activity 1A Plymouth Sound Tides and Weather Name: Aim: The aim of this task is to provide background information on environmental conditions that may influence temperature and salinity to provide context for your fieldwork in Plymouth Sound.

Learning Outcomes: On completion of this task you will be able to:  Construct a time series of tidal elevations from given water level data  Add information on the lunar cycle to your tidal curve  Identify the Spring and Neap tides and relate to the lunar phase  Locate and plot recent meteorological data  Comment on recent observations in relation to the time of the CTD survey.

Instructions: This week you will be conducting a CTD (Conductivity, Temperature, Depth) survey of Plymouth Sound and analyzing temperature and salinity data. The information you draw together in this activity will help you to assess the influence of the tides and weather on your results. For this task you will need the tidal prediction data for Devonport and meteorological data from websites listed at the end. Other useful references are also included.

Resources: 

Pinet, Paul R. Invitation to oceanography. Jones & Bartlett Publishers, 2011. Sections 8.1, 8.2 (Tides), 12.1 (Estuaries). [Available as a free ebook on OS102 Module Site]

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Dyer, K.R. “Estuaries: a physical introduction,” Wiley, 1997 (551.4609 DYE)

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Bass, S.J., Manning, A.J., Dyer, K.R. (2007) Preliminary Findings of a study of the upper reaches of the Tamar Estuary, UK, throughout a complete tidal cycle: Part I: Lining hydrodynamic and sediment cycles, Estuarine and Coastal Fine Sediment Dynamics. 8 pp. 1- 14. Amateur Plymouth Weather Station Database: http://www.bearsbythesea.co.uk/wxtempdetail.php Tide Tables for Plymouth (Devonport): https://www.tidetimes.org.uk/plymouth-devonport-tide-times Environment Agency River and Sea Level Database: http://apps.environment-agency.gov.uk/river-and-sea-levels/120719.aspx Lunar phases for the UK: https://www.timeanddate.com/moon/phases/uk/london

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OS101 Activity 1A: Plymouth Sound Tides and Weather

TASK 1: Tides a) Tidal curve and lunar cycle  The tide tables available at the link provided below give predicted times and water levels for high and low water for each day. Construct a graph showing the variation of successive high and low water levels for the 2 weeks preceding this Friday. Plot your data by hand in Figure 1 (or use software and add figure to this document) with time on the x-axis and water level on the y-axis. Make sure that the graph is fully labelled with an informative caption.  Add information on the phase of the moon (New, First Quarter, Full, Third Quarter) to your tidal curve.

b) Identification of Spring and Neap tides  Locate Spring tides by finding the three consecutive days showing the highest tidal ranges and label them “Springs” on your tidal curve. Locate Neap tides by finding the three consecutive days showing the lowest tidal ranges and label them “Neaps”.

TASK 2: Meteorological conditions a) Rainfall  Plot rainfall data from the last week until present. (You can access recent weather observations in Plymouth from the following site: http://www.bearsbythesea.co.uk/wxraindetail.php?). [Plot your graph by hand on the graph paper provided in Figure 2 (or use software and add figure to this document). Ensure that your graph is fully labelled with an informative caption.] b) Temperature  Plot temperature highs and lows from the last week until present. (You can access recent weather observations in Plymouth from the following site: http://www.bearsbythesea.co.uk/wxraindetail.php?). [Plot your graph by hand on the graph paper provided in Figure 3 (or use software and add figure to this document). Ensure that your graph is fully labelled with an informative caption and legend.]

OS101 Activity 1A: Plymouth Sound Tides and Weather

TASK 3: Discussion in the context of your survey a) Tidal characteristics Discuss the characteristics of your tidal curve for Devonport in Figure 1. Comment on the diurnal (daily) variations, tidal ranges at spring and neap tides and the timing of your CTD Survey in relation to the Spring-Neap cycle.

b) Meteorological influence Discuss your figures of recent rainfall and temperature data. Consider how these results may impact on your temperature and salinity data.

OS101 Activity 1A: Plymouth Sound Tides and Weather

Figure 1: insert informative caption here

OS101 Activity 1A: Plymouth Sound Tides and Weather

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