A tideline refers to where two
currents
Currents, Current or The Current may refer to:
Science and technology
* Current (fluid), the flow of a liquid or a gas
** Air current, a flow of air
** Ocean current, a current in the ocean
*** Rip current, a kind of water current
** Current (stre ...
in the
ocean
The ocean (also the sea or the world ocean) is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of the surface of Earth and contains 97% of Earth's water. An ocean can also refer to any of the large bodies of water into which the wo ...
converge. Driftwood, floating seaweed, foam, and other floating debris may accumulate, forming sinuous lines called tidelines (although they generally have nothing to do with the
tide
Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another.
Tide tables ...
).
There are four mechanisms that can cause tidelines to form:
# Where one body of water is sinking beneath or riding over top of the surface layer of another body of water (somewhat similar in mechanics to subduction and/or uprisal of the earth plates at continental margins). These types of tidelines are often found where rivers enter the ocean.
# Along the margins of back-eddies.
# Convergence zones associated with
internal gravity waves.
# Along adjacent cells formed by wind currents.
See also
*
Langmuir circulation
In physical oceanography, Langmuir circulation consists of a series of shallow, slow, counter-rotating vortices at the ocean's surface aligned with the wind.
These circulations are developed when wind blows steadily over the sea surface.
Ir ...
*
Ocean circulation
An ocean current is a continuous, directed movement of sea water generated by a number of forces acting upon the water, including wind, the Coriolis effect, breaking waves, cabbeling, and temperature and salinity differences. Depth contours, ...
*
Flotsam and jetsam
In maritime law, flotsam'','' jetsam'','' lagan'','' and derelict are specific kinds of shipwreck. The words have specific nautical meanings, with legal consequences in the law of admiralty and marine salvage. A shipwreck is defined as the r ...
References
* Thomson, R.E. 1981.
Oceanography of the British Columbia Coast. Department of Fisheries and Oceans. Canadian Special Publication of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 56. Ottawa. 291.
{{physical oceanography
Tides
Physical oceanography