Why do the tides in the English channel travel from west to east when the earth spins west to east?

Answer 1

The flow of West to East is due to the prevailing tide of the North Atlantic Drift. This is pushed by the Gulf Stream.

Answer 2

The tides have very very little to do with the earth's spin. This is constant so any effect would not be cyclical as the tides are.

Tides are caused by the combined effects of the Sun's and Moon's gravity.

Because of this they cycle every lunar month. from Spring tides..high rise and fall..to Neap tides..small rise and fall.

In general there are two high tides per 24 hour period and two low tides...but there are exceptions depending on the geography..for instance there are 4 high tides at the Isle of White This is because of the huge amounts of water flowing up and down the english cvhannel and hence around the Isle.

It is not true to say there is a permanent current West to East...it changes with the time...depending on whether the tide is rising or falling...

It is a complex subject. You perhaps could buy a local tide book...there is a lot bof useful information in there..you might find it interesting. They are cheap enough and available at any marine Chandler or good coastal book store.

Answer 3

Ebb or flow tides? Surely it depends on whether the tide is going in or out. As the tides are principally dictated by the moons position over a part of the Earth, the tides will depend on a raising of the water level in one part of the ocean from the main water mass. As this would be the deep Atlantic in the English Channel, the water should flow towards the East as high tide approaches and the other way after it.

Answer 4

Dont confuse tidal levels with tidal flows. Tidal levels are driven by the gravitational pull of moon (and to a lesser extent the sun). Tidal flows are a combination of some ocean currents like the gulf stream and the moving swell of water which flows up channels as the tidal level rises. The Isle of Wight in the English channel has a double tide in the inner passage - solent - as high tide first arrives at the Western end of the Island and then later at the Eastern end. The tidal currents around the Channel Islands are amongst the strongest on the world as water is squeezed between the Cherbourg peninsular and the general bulge of the UK southern coast around the Isle of Wight.

However the tides in the channel as a whole do flow both ways, Eastwards and Westwards more or less equally as any sailor crossing the channel from/to France/UK will know.

Answer 5

The spin of earth has much less influence on the movement of the water than the moon's gravity. As Eurasia and Africa move under the moon, the waters are pulled towards the moon from the entire hemisphere facing the moon. In this case, all the available water is west of the continents, so it is pulled "up" from there.

The channel has extraordinarily high tides because the coast lines act a a funnel.

Answer 6

The moon dictates the ebb and flow of the tides, not the spin of the Earth.