56

Lecture 8: Tidal Flats

Prothero and Schwab p. 180-182

I. Tides

A. Gravitational Attraction: As the Moon goes around the Earth, its gravity pulls on the
mass of the Earth according to the universal law of gravitation:
m1 m2
= G ,
r2
where F = gravitational force, G = universal gravitational constant, m1 and m2 are
masses of the two objects in question, and R is the distance between the two objects.
Distance, being squared, is extremely important.

Different parts of the earth feel different gravitational attraction forces from the Moon.
The nearest side feels:
mEmM
F near = G ,
R2
The middle of the earth feels:
m E mM
Fmid = G ,
(R − rE )2

where rE = radius of the Earth. The far side of the earth feels:

m E mM
=G
(R + rE )2
far

Because of the variable distance imparted by the Earth's radius, the center of the Earth
feels the average gravitational pull of the whole planet, the near side is pulled more
strongly, and the far side is pulled more weakly. Written in vector form, the attractive
force vectors of the moon are directed at its center:

Smaller F Larger F

Eart h Moon

R- r
R
R+ r

B. Centrifugal Force: The Moon does not simply move around the Earth. Instead, the
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Earth-Moon system rotates around a single center of gravity that, because of the larger
mass of the Earth, is displaced toward the Moon only some 4,700 km from the center of
the Earth (This is about 1700 km below the Earth's surface). As the Earth and Moon
rotate around this common point, they feel an outward force, called a centrifugal force,
that is similar to what children feel on a playground merry-go-round. The magnitude of
this outward force exactly balances the attractive gravitational force, thus keeping the
Earth and Moon from crashing together or flying apart. The centrifugal force vectors
are shown below. Note that they are all parallel because the Earth moves as a single unit
around this center of gravity.

Eart h Moon

Center of Gravity = Center of Earth-Moon Rotation

The Moon, of course, also feels the gravitational tug of the Earth and the centrifugal force
resulting from its rotation around the center of gravity.

C. Traction Forces = Sum of Gravitational and Centrifugal Vectors

Eart h Eart h Eart h

Gravity and Centrifugal Vectors Add vectors head to tail. Map of lots of traction vectors shows
Small vectors show traction force. that oceans tend to flow to form large
bulges: a largely gravitational bulge
and a largely centifugal bulge.

The flow of the oceans in response to these forces produces two tidal bulges. It is the
rotation of the Earth under these bulges that creates the coming and going of the tides:
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View from Above

Low Tide

High Tide Earth High Tide

Moon

Low Tide

While the Earth rotates every 24 hours, it takes the Moon 29.5 days to go around the
earth. Thus, the bulges are held in a relatively stationary position by the Moon, while
the Earth spins underneath them. As we stand on a beach, we see the oceanic bulge (high
tide) pass by twice in a 24 hour period. Once as we pass nearest the Moon, and once
when we are on the opposite side of the Earth from the Moon. When we are 90° from
these positions, we see low tides.

* This simple system is complicated by the interaction of the bulge with the continental
shorelines. The bulge is in essence a giant wave with two crests and two troughs that,
when it is hit by the shoreline, sends off refractions and oscillations that complicate a
simple system of two tides a day. More on this later.

* The solid Earth also responds to these forces, but it only deforms a maximum of 20
cm. This is because it is tough for the mantle to flow very far in a 12 hour period.

C. A solar day, the time it takes us to come face to face again with the Sun, is 24 hours
long. Since the Moon's orbit moves in the same direction as the Earth's rotation, it takes
more time for one rotation face-to-face with the Moon. Over 24 hours, the Moon moves
ahead of where it was the day before (see the figure above). Thus, the "lunar day" is 24
hours and 50 minutes.

This means that the tidal bulge also moving around, following the course of the moon in
its orbit. It also means that for each 24 hour period, the tides are 50 minutes later than
they were the day before. This means that if you hit low tide at 7 am, that low tide will
come again at 7:25 am. The next morning (24 hours later), low tide will be at 7:50 am.
This came be very useful knowledge at the beach.

D. The sun also contributes to tides. The sun is of course much farther away, but it is
HUGE, hence a Gravitational Stud, and it produces tides about 1/2 the magnitude of the
Moon.

E. The changing interaction of the Moon's and Sun's gravitational fields causes the
magnitude of the tides to change (magnitude = total tidal range from high to low). When
we have a New or Full Moon, the Sun, Earth, and Moon are lined up, the
gravitational/centrifugal forces are added together, the Solar/Lunar tidal bulges
coincide, and we have the largest tidal ranges. Very high tides and very low tides. This
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happens every two weeks and is called a Spring Tide.

grey = solar bulge

New Full
Sun Earth
Moon Moon
black = lunar bulge

This geometric arrangement of the Earth-Moon-Sun is called Syzygy.

When we have the half-moons, the gravitational/centrifugal forces of the Sun-Earth-

Moon system form right angles, the solar and lunar tidal bulges are at right angles and
thus compete for ocean water, and we get the smallest tidal ranges.

Half
Moon

Sun Earth

Half
Moon

This geometric arrangement is called Quadrature

Thus, in an ideal world covered with a uniform ocean we have two tides a day. The
magnitude of these tides varies with the position of the Moon such that the largest
differences between high and low tides occur during New and Full Moons (every 14
days), and the smallest tidal ranges occur every 14 days during the Half Moons.

These tidal bulges are essentially giant waves: two crests and two troughs. Recall that
waves cause a circular motion in the water column that decreases to zero at a depth of
wavelength/2. For tidal bulges, this corresponds to a depth of some 21 km, versus an
average ocean depth of only about 3.8 km. Thus, these 'waves' feel variable friction with
the ocean bottom (depending on local water depth) and, moreover, when they collide with
irregular coast lines they refract in various ways. Altogether, on the real earth, the
moving tidal bulges set up internal oscillations that modify the regional shapes of the
tidal bulges. The long and the short: this can make the tides come and go at frequencies
other than simply twice a day:
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F. Tidal Curves Overhead

Panama is example of the expected two tides a day. Called "semi-diurnal tides" because
diurnal means daily and semi means half. A high-low tidal cycle passes every half-day,
or two high and two low tides a day. Overall magnitude of tidal range can be enclosed
within an envelope with a 14 day period (neap-to-neap or spring-to-spring).

China case is an example of a diurnal (daily) tide: only 1 high and low per day. 14 day
period is again clear.

San Francisco is an example of unequal semi-diurnal tides. You can visualize the
envelope defining the 14 day period, but within this are two tides a day that are very
unequal.

The Philippines example mixes equal diurnal and unequal semi-diurnal tides, but you
can still see the 14 day period.

Overall, 14 day neap-spring period is consistent, but there are lots of local variations
in magnitude and timing of individual high/low tides.

Tidal flow velocity graph. In principle, the flow in and out of a tidal channel should
be nice and symmetrical. However, all sorts of details affect the rates at which area
flood and drain as a tidal bulge moves by. Thus, it is very common to have either the in
(flood) or out (ebb) current much stronger than the other. This means, for example,
that you might make really good ripples/dunes as a tide comes in through a tidal channel,
but then not destroy them as the tide ebbs out.

Note carefully how the velocities tend to change during a tidal cycle: the points of lowest
and highest tides are marked by zero currents (called slack tides). As the tide comes in,
the current increases until it hits some maximum. It then decreases until finally high
tide is hit. Then the current increases again to some maximum. This regular variation
in current velocity and direction creates the distinctive sedimentologic features of
tidally influenced systems.

II. Sedimentary structures associated with tidal currents: (Prothero and Schwab:
pp. last paragraph of p. 47 through p. 54)

A. Herringbone cross-stratification: the tide goes in, the tide goes out. The
result can often be successive beds with cross-bedding dipping in opposite directions.
Common in tidal channels.

B. Reactivation surfaces (see figure below; Fig. 4.7 is in Prothero and

Schwab): Dominant tidal current (ebb or flood, depending) makes a nice asymmetric
ripple/dune. During slack tide, mud settles from suspension. Then weaker tidal current
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partially erodes crest of ripple/dune and associated mud drape. Then at the next slack
tide, more mud settles from suspension. The next dominant current grows more
ripple/dune over the old erosion surface, burying the mud drape on the down-flow side.
The end result of all of this is that instead of a simple set of cross-beds like in a normal
unidirectional current, you get sets of cross beds preserved in between successive mud
drapes that follow the weaker tidal currents.

These are also common in tidal channels.

Main Tid al Current

Slack Tide = Mud Drape

Mino r Tidal Current = Some Ero sion

Slack Tide = Mud Drape

Main Tid al Current

Mino r Tidal Current = Some Ero sion

Slack Tide = Mud Drape

C. Tidal Bundles (handout): formed from a whole series of nicely preserved

reactivation surfaces. The amount of sand transported by a tidal current depends on its
strength. Since spring tides have to move more water in and out, they have stronger
currents, move more sand, and thus result in thicker cross-beds of sand sandwiched
between the mud drapes. Neap tides make thinner sand packages. Thus, we find in the
ancient record whole sequences of mud draped sand packets that show the clear thickness
variations that relate to the 14 day cycle of spring-neap tides. These structures are
called tidal bundles. These are, of course, associated with tidal channels.

D. Moving further from tidally-dominated channels gets decreasing proportions of sand

and increasing proportions of mud.

1. Nearer channels = plenty of sand laid down as traction deposits, but during
slack tides plenty of silt and clay deposited from suspension.
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Flaser bedding = Predominantly sandy beds in which mud-drapes often

preserve portions of the bedform. Sometimes whole ripple shapes are preserved
in cross-section by a bed of overlying mud, but more often the next episode of
current erodes the ripple crests. The mud is thus more often preserved in the
troughs and down-current ripple sides.
Mud-draped ripples

Erosion flattens ripples, preserves drapes only in ripple troughs.

2. Wavy bedding = roughly 50% sand and 50% mud. Found in areas more
distant from channels than flaser bedding.

3. Lenticular bedding = mostly mud/silt, but with isolated lenses and ripples
of sand). In this case, normal deposition is silt and clay dropping from
suspension. Occasionally (spring tides? storm surges?), there are episodes of
flow intense enough to push sandy ripples or planar beds over the muddy bottom,
but not strong enough to erode the mud or swamp the system with sand.

Ripple migration over semi-consolidated mud.

More mud deposited by suspension.

E. Mud cracks and salt casts. Parts of a tidally influenced environment that are
rarely flooded will dry out between floodings. This will create mud cracks and salt casts.
Mud cracks are preserved when sediment is washed over the desiccated surface and fills
in the cracks. Since different grain sizes are often slightly different colors, an ancient
mud cracked surface shows a collection of generally polygonal shapes defined by different
sediment types. Mud crack photos are illustrated in any introductory geology text.
When seen from the side, mud cracks are wide at the top and pinch out generally before
they reach the bottom of a single layer. Cracks I've seen are only a mm or two across at
the widest and a couple of cm at the longest. Younger fractures in the rock generally cut
through many layers.

Salt casts are most commonly from gypsum, as this forms first as seawater evaporates,
but cubic casts from halite also occur.
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F. Each of the above features can occur in any environment influenced by the tides:
estuaries, deltas, beaches, lagoons, and tidal flats. Some features, such as the flaser to
lenticular bedding, can occur anywhere that gets strong variations in current velocities.
For example, delta plains. Thus, any of these observations has to be incorporated into
the larger body of evidence, especially any knowledge of the overall geometry of the
deposits under study.

III. Tidal Flats (overhead)

A. Occur as gently sloping, marshy and muddy featureless plains dissected by sandy tidal
channels and creeks exposed during low tide. Have low relief except for tidal channels.
Can be km to 10’s of km wide (well-studied examples from the Netherlands, Germany,
Denmark, U.K., Korea).

B. Found primarily along mesotidal - macrotidal coasts with low relief (to allow
flooding; no cliffs) and low wave energy (may be protected by dry land): estuaries,
bays, back-barriers, deltas, open coasts.

C. Although we are worried about siliciclastic settings, also found carbonate or

evaporite sediments. In fact, major carbonate deposits are commonly formed in the tidal
or subtidal zone.

D. Broken into 3 main zones based on sedimentary processes:

1. Subtidal zone: below mean low-tide. Hosts largest channels and sees highest
tidal current velocities. Sandy ripples, dunes, and plane beds can form. Tidal
channels can migrate like a meandering river and thus can form lateral accretion
surfaces. Handout: Tidal Flat box figure (Fig. 11.45).

Sedimentation in this zone works like an inside-out river delta. As tide comes in,
channels first fill with water, and marine sand is pushed up though the channels.
These channels branch toward land and allow marine sediment to be distributed
landward. Soon subtidal channels are filled and waters flood over their banks.
Although not show in the handout, levees can form!

As the tide goes out, channels collect draining water like headwaters of a river
drainage system and carry it out to sea.

If flow velocities are perfectly symmetrical, can get cross-beds going both
directions (herringbone x-stratification). With asymmetrical currents, x-beds
are mostly in one direction. Reactivation surfaces and tidal bundles may form.

2. Intertidal zone is flooded and exposed once or twice a day. Distributary tidal
channels are smaller but still contain sand. The surge of the highest flood tide
velocities can put rippled sand deposits over deeper parts of the tidal flat. The
slower currents associated with the shallower intertidal zone bring less sand and
more silts. During slack tides, silt and mud settle out of suspension, draping all
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traction deposits. Some of this may be reworked as the current reverses itself.

Overall, the distance from the channels determines relative proportions of sand
and mud such that you see a sequence of flaser to wavy to lenticular bedding
moving from deeper to shallower waters.

Note: Waves can rework sediment in the lower intertidal zone, leading to
resuspension of the fine sediment and the formation of well-sorted sandy beach
deposits instead of flaser and wavy deposits.

3. Supratidal zone may be flooded by spring tides twice a month or by seasonal

storm surges. It is cut by few tidal channels; low current velocities mean that
most deposition is fine mud from suspension. Common salt-marsh vegetation and
mangrove trees further dampen wave and tidal current energy and thus retain
fine sediments. Roots commonly destroy bedding and peat deposits are common.

Desiccation cracks and salt casts in these muds are diagnostic features.

4. Overall (handout), go from sands to mixed sands and muds to mixed muds and
sands to muds and peats.

E. Vertical Successions: Handout Fig. 11.47

1. Tidal flat deposits are generally only preserved when the tidal flat progrades.
Need to bury the sediments to preserve them. During a sea level rise, waves
often rework the intertidal and supratidal deposits and remove the muds, leaving
behind more or less ordinary beach sands.

2. Progradation: in the subtidal channel, start with herringbone x-bedding ±

reactivation surfaces. Like any migrating channel, sediments should fine
upwards. As the intertidal zone progrades overhead, more and more silt and mud
get deposited: you may get smaller distributary channel sands followed by flaser,
wavy, and lenticular bedding. Finally, as the supratidal zone moves overhead,
mainly muds are deposited. The encroaching salt marsh may leave peat (future
coal) deposits.

3. Criteria for recognition:

1. Bimodal x-bedding (tides).

2. Reactivation surfaces/tidal bundles; flaser/wavy/lenticular bedding.
3. Laterally, expect to find alternations between tidal channel sands and
sandy to muddy tidal flat deposits.
4. Subaerial exposure evidence: mud cracks, raindrop imprints, animal
tracks, evaporite mineral casts (cubic halite, irregular gypsum lumps).
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IV. Tidalites and the Length of the Day

A. Tidalites (tidal rythmites): mm-scale laminations alternating between silt and

clay that show regular variations in thickness that relate to 14-day neap-neap or
spring-spring cycles (see tidal curve overhead).

Found in prodelta areas when large tidal ranges impact amount and grain size of sediment
reaching the prodelta.

During spring tides, exceptionally low tides allow a larger volume of coarser silt to
reach the prodelta. Exceptionally high tides prevent all but the finest clay from
arriving. Thus, distinct thick silty layers separated by thin clay layers during spring
tides.

During neap tides, the differences in grain size and accumulation even out. Thus,
differences between silt/clay-rich layers is less distinct.

High tide: River mouth is far from delta front so

more silt gets trapped on delta plain/front
Low tide: River mouth is closer t delta front so it is
easier to pump silt into deeper prodelta waters

Delta Plain

Delta Front

Prodelta

B. Recall that we have two tidal bulges and that the Earth's rotation under these bulges
gives us, generally, 2 tides a day. Moreover, as the relative position of the Moon, Earth,
and Sun changes, we get spring tides at syzygy and neap tides at quadrature.

Although the number and pattern of daily tides varies from place to place, the spring-
neap cycles are always tightly coupled to the 14.75 day (29.5/2) half-period of the
moon. Tidal Curves handout. Thus, there is a very consistent relationship between
spring-spring or neap-neap tides and the time it takes the Moon to orbit the Earth.

C. As the Earth spins (once per 24 hours) under the relatively slowly moving tidal
bulges (once per 29 days), the bulges exert a resistance against the motion of the
spinning Earth. The water is viscous and thus resists motion, and the bulges
(essentially huge waves) have to be pulled across the sea flood and up across the
continental shelves. Just like water flowing through a channel or waves approaching a
shoreline, these tidal bulges experience boundary shear stresses resisting their motion.
Thus, the bulges act to slow the rotation of the Earth. This means that in the past, the
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Earth spun faster and thus had shorter days.

D. Similarly, The spinning Earth is always trying to drag (by friction and the ocean's
viscosity) the tidal bulges forward, ahead of the slow pace of the Moon. Because, the
oceans have mass, they exert extra pull against the Moon. In this way, the spinning
Earth is slowly increasing the rate at which the moon moves around the Earth. A faster
rate of motion translates into a bigger orbit. The Moon is slowly drifting away from us.
This means that in the past, the Moon should have been in a closer orbit moving more
slowly. Slower Moon = smaller orbit = shorter path = a shorter lunar month. Thus, in
the geologic past, tidalites should have recorded spring-spring cycles that are less than
14.75 days.

E. Thus, the length of the day and the lunar month are related by tidal friction. Moon
slows down rotation of Earth, thus lengthening the day, and rotation of Earth speeds up
movement of the Moon around the Earth, thus lengthening the lunar month. It turns out
that this relationship can be expressed using a series of equations. Thus, it is possible to
go from the length of the lunar month at any time in the past to the length of the Earth's
day.

F. Tidalites and the lunar month

1. Measure the thicknesses of successive tidalite laminae over as great a

thickness as possible. By counting the number of laminae between successive
spring-spring cycles (thick, silty laminae), should get the lunar month at the
time the sediments were deposited.

2. To be accurate, measurements have to be made over huge numbers of cycles

and the data have to be analyzed with a mathematical technique called spectral
analysis. This minimizes any bias resulting from erosive loss of a hopefully
small but random number of cycles due to storms or other events that may have
affected any given series of bundles. You can often spot obvious scours, but it is
tough to spot non-deposition or erosion that didn't cut across beds.

3. A paper published in Science has done all of this for a long sequence of
Proterozoic tidalites that are 900 million years old.

C.P. Sonett et al., 1996, Late Proterozoic and Paleozoic tides, retreat of
the Moon, and rotation of the Earth, Science 273: 100-104.

a. The analyses indicate that the lunar month was only 23.4 ± 0.3 days
long, as opposed to 29.5 day today (26% increase over 900 myr.).

b. From this the length of the day is calculated to have been 18.2 ± 0.3
hours, as opposed to 24 hours today.

c. To take up the 8766 hours in a year (1 orbit around the Sun) requires
481 ± 8 18.2-hour days, as opposed to 365 24-hour days today.
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d. The shorter month implies either an orbit roughly 11% closer to the
Earth at 900 Ma as compared to today. This may, if I did my math right,
have made the moon appear 11% larger and more beautiful to the algal
scum that were dating in the shallow seas of the time.

G. Comparisons with other studies

1. Measurements based on shooting lasers at reflectors placed on the moon

suggest that the Earth’s rotation has slowed enough over the past 100 years to add
a full 0.001 second to the Earth’s day. If we go back to 900 Ma, we'd have had a
day 2.5 hours shorter, a 21.5 hour day. This is considerably longer than the
18.2 hour day calculated above.

The discrepancy probably is due to the fact that the amount of friction is not
constant through geological time. It depends on the area and distribution of
continental shelves through time.

2. Studies using Devonian corals suggested that the length of the year was about
400 days at 400 Ma. This estimate implies that the Moon was quite close to the
Earth quite late in its history, and apparently suggests that the Paleozoic Earth
would have been subject to huge tides and an extraordinary amount of heating
from tidal friction. There is no evidence for this in the geologic record, so the
authors of the Science paper discount the value of the coral studies.

Heating?, you say. Yes, tidal friction imparts a certain amount of heat to the
Earth. The average tidally induced heat equal to about 10% of the total
radioactive heat flux from the mantle. It is thus not very important to fueling
such processes as plate tectonics on the Earth, but it turns out that tidal friction
is very important to some of the moons of Jupiter. Io is extremely volcanically
active, with both sulfurous and silicate eruptions, and with one eruption
temperature estimated at some 1600°C. This is at least 400°C hotter than the
hottest modern eruptions on Earth. Europa displays a surface of cracked ice that
appears to be underlain by liquid water. Without tidal friction, both moons
would have frozen solid billions of years ago.

H. Finally, have you ever wondered why the same side of the moon always faces us? The
Moon originated very early in the formation of the solar system when a planet-sized
body collided with the earth, causing a large blob of the molten mantle to be cast off into
space. It quickly formed into a sphere and stayed in orbit around the earth. It almost
certainly would have been spinning rapidly as a result of the way it formed. However, as
the Moon spun, the Earth's gravity and the Earth/Moon centrifugal force deformed the
Moon in the same way that the Earth and its oceans are now deformed. This deformation
of a spinning Moon also encountered frictional and viscous resistance. Since the Moon
was spinning faster than it was rotating around the Earth, this resistance acted to slow
the spinning Moon until it reached the point where it rotates at exactly the same rate as
it moves around the earth. The Moon is still rotating, but so slowly that it always keeps
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the same face towards us (i.e., once every 29.5 days).

All moons with simple orbits become similarly gravitationally locked with their host
planets. The reason that the moons of Jupiter still experience strong gravitation
friction is that its multiple large moons constantly perturb each other's orbits. They
prevent each other from settling into stable, simple orbits and thus keep spinning faster
than they orbit around Jupiter.