TITLE:
When an Incompressible Ocean Impacts a Compressible Continent
AUTHORS:
Kern E. Kenyon
KEYWORDS:
Tidal Reflection, Continental Compression
JOURNAL NAME:
Natural Science,
Vol.13 No.7,
July
15,
2021
ABSTRACT: The
horizontal force on a continent, at the land/ocean boundary, is calculated
according to the concept of reflected tide waves, in which there is a time rate
of change (reversal) of the linear momentum brought in by the tide to the
continent. From the text books, the Stokes drift for surface gravity waves
propagating in arbitrary constant mean depth, which is directly related to the linear
momentum of the wave, is adapted to the tide wave by using the approximation
that the wavelength of the tide is very much larger than the vertical length of
the water column. This horizontal force is a maximum at full and new moon when
the tide amplitude is greatest. Evidence is cited for the correlation of
earthquakes at full moons. The tendency of the reflected tide force on the
continents is to cause compression of the solid material in the horizontal
direction and it is suggested that this possibly could trigger earthquakes
occasionally.