Head of tide

Cromwell Weir marks the tidal limit of the River Trent, a major river in England^[1]

Head of tide or tidal limit^[2] is the farthest point upstream where a river is affected by tidal fluctuations,^[3] or where the fluctuations are less than a certain amount.^[4] This applies to rivers which flow into tidal bodies such as oceans, bays and deltas.

Though this point may vary due to storms, spring tides, and seasonal or annual differences in water flows, there is generally an average point which is accepted as the head of tide (in Great Britain this is the Normal Tidal Limit, typically noted on Ordnance Survey maps as 'NTL').^[1] A river's tidal data are recorded at various locations downstream of this point. A river's head of tide may be considered the upper boundary of its estuary.

The head of tide is important in surveying, navigation, and fisheries management, and thus many jurisdictions establish a legal head of tide. As the head of tide is useful for navigation, separate maps can be made of the tidal zones up to the head of tide, such as was done in New Jersey.^[5]

The head of tide may be many miles upstream from the river's mouth. For example, on the Hudson River, it is located 140 miles (225 km) upstream, near Albany, New York. On the Saint Lawrence River, tides affect shipping upstream past Quebec City, which is located several hundred miles inland from the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the Atlantic Ocean.

See also

• tidal bore
• tidal river
• The Tideway

References

Physical oceanography Waves Airy wave theory Ballantine scale Benjamin–Feir instability Boussinesq approximation Breaking wave Clapotis Cnoidal wave Cross sea Dispersion Edge wave Equatorial waves Fetch Gravity wave Infragravity wave Internal wave Kelvin wave Kinematic wave Longshore drift Luke's variational principle Mild-slope equation Radiation stress Rogue wave Rossby wave Rossby-gravity waves Sea state Seiche Significant wave height Sneaker wave Soliton Stokes boundary layer Stokes drift Stokes wave Swell Trochoidal wave Tsunami megatsunami Undertow Ursell number Wave action Wave base Wave height Wave power Wave radar Wave setup Wave shoaling Wave turbulence Wave–current interaction Waves and shallow water one-dimensional Saint-Venant equation shallow water equations Wind wave model Circulation Atmospheric circulation Baroclinity Boundary current Coriolis effect Downwelling Eddy Ekman layer Ekman spiral Ekman transport El Niño Southern Oscillation General Circulation Model Geostrophic current Global Ocean Data Analysis Project Gulf Stream Halothermal circulation Humboldt Current Hydrothermal circulation Langmuir circulation Longshore drift Loop Current Maelstrom Modular ocean model Ocean dynamics Ocean gyre Princeton ocean model Rip current Subsurface currents Sverdrup balance Thermohaline circulation shutdown Upwelling Whirlpool World Ocean Circulation Experiment Tides Amphidromic point Earth tide Head of tide Internal tide Lunitidal interval Perigean spring tide Rip tide Rule of twelfths Slack water Tidal bore Tidal force Tidal power Tidal race Tidal range Tidal resonance Tide gauge Tideline Landforms Abyssal fan Abyssal plain Atoll Bathymetric chart Coastal geography Cold seep Continental margin Continental rise Continental shelf Contourite Guyot Hydrography Oceanic basin Oceanic plateau Oceanic trench Passive margin Seabed Seamount Submarine canyon Plate tectonics Convergent boundary Divergent boundary Fracture zone Hydrothermal vent Marine geology Mid-ocean ridge Mohorovičić discontinuity Vine–Matthews–Morley hypothesis Oceanic crust Outer trench swell Ridge push Seafloor spreading Slab pull Slab suction Slab window Subduction Transform fault Volcanic arc Ocean zones Benthic Deep ocean water Deep sea Littoral Mesopelagic Oceanic Pelagic Photic Surf Sea level Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis Future sea level Global Sea Level Observing System North West Shelf Operational Oceanographic System Ocean Surface Topography Mission Sea-level curve Sea level rise World Geodetic System Acoustics Deep scattering layer Hydroacoustics Ocean acoustic tomography Sofar bomb SOFAR channel Underwater acoustics Related Argo Benthic lander Color of water DSV Alvin Marginal sea Marine energy Marine pollution Mooring National Oceanographic Data Center Ocean Ocean exploration Ocean observations Ocean reanalysis Ocean surface topography Ocean thermal energy conversion Oceanography Pelagic sediment Sea surface microlayer Sea surface temperature Seawater Science On a Sphere Thermocline Underwater glider Water column World Ocean Atlas Category Commons