The Moon produces ocean tides through differential gravitational forces
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Reference literature establishes that ocean tides are caused by the differences among the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon across Earth's diameter, known as differential forces.
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Anyone living near the sea is familiar with the twice-daily rising and falling of the tides. Early in history, it was clear that tides must be related to the Moon because the daily delay in high tide is the same as the daily delay in the Moon’s rising. A satisfactory explanation of the tides, however, awaited the theory of gravity, supplied by Newton. The gravitational forces exerted by the Moon at several points on Earth are illustrated in Figure 4.16. These forces differ slightly from one another because Earth is not a point, but has a certain size: all parts are not equally distant from the Moon, nor are they all in exactly the same direction from the Moon. Moreover, Earth is not perfectly rigid. As a result, the differences among the forces of the Moon’s attraction on different parts of Earth (called differential forces) cause Earth to distort slightly. The side of Earth nearest the Moon is attracted toward the Moon more strongly than is the center of Earth, which in turn is attracted more strongly than is the side opposite the Moon.
We quantitatively estimate the corrections for astronomical tides and ocean tidal loading to first-order leveling survey in Japan along its typical routes. Tidal force of the astronomical bodies such as the Moon and the Sun makes the geopotential surfaces and the deformable Earth’s surface tilt differently in both permanent and periodical manners. The force also redistributes the oceanic masses as ocean tides, producing differential tilts between those surfaces through their direct gravitational effects and load-induced elastic bending of the crust. Those differential tilts may affect the read
position of the Moon . Tides can affect both the solid interior of the Earth (Earth tides ), as well as the liquid ocean waters ( Ocean tides ), which are more
Areas of discussion are the history of tides, the forces which exert an influence upon the earth's tides, the behavior of tides as modified by terrestrial features, "freak" behavior of tides, the marine life which inhabits tidal areas, the manner in which tides have helped to shape the course of history, how tides affect our lives on a day to day basis, and the possible future benefits to mankind which might be derived from the tides. Also included are: information concerning early theories about the tides; a discussion of Newton's theories of gravity; the influence of the moon and sun on the
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