When gravity joins forces during alignments
This alignment causes spring tides, which have nothing to do with the season. The term comes from the German word 'springen', meaning to leap, and results in the year's highest high tides and lowest low tides.
Chapter 1
The cosmic tug of war
Chapter 2
The Sun enters the dance
Chapter 3
Coastal shapes and local rhythms
Chapter 4
Tides and the web of life
Ch 2 · The Sun enters the dance
nic Despite its immense mass, the Sun's extreme distance makes its tidal force less than half that of the Moon.
Fun Fact
Leaping tides: The word 'spring' in spring tides comes from an Old English word meaning 'to leap,' not the season.
nic When the Sun and Moon are at right angles to Earth, their gravitational pulls partially cancel each other out.