The lunar semi-diurnal tide in Cook Strait, New Zealand

Abstract

The lunar semi-diurnal tide in Cook Strait responds to two tidal systems one on each end of the Strait, these systems being about 140° out of phase. The tide in Cook Strait and that in the adjacent Tasman Bay are examined by numerical integration of the momentum and continuity equations with tidal forcing from both the open boundaries. This model simulates the tide very closely. The region of rapid phase change in the narrowest part of Cook Strait is found to be consistent with two overlapping standing waves. Elsewhere the tidal wave has a dominant standing wave component.