Maccan River Tidal Bore EarthCache

Maccan Tidal Bore
The Bay of Fundy is Famous for its high tides. These tides are caused by the continual narrowing of the bay from its mouth near Digby to its upper reaches in Cumberland Basin. This narrowing constricts the flow entering the bay from the Atlantic Ocean causing the water to rise as it is forced up the Bay. The fresh water flowing out of the Maccan River holds back the tide briefly but the rising water reverses the river flow. This reversal combined with the narrowing of the river causes the wall of water or Tidal bore to rush up the river ahead of the incoming tide. Like the height of the tides, the height of the tidal bore is controlled by the gravitational pull of the moon. The highest bores occur when the moon is closet to earth, usually at or shortly after full moon.

Mud Become Marsh
Twice a day for the last 6,000 years, turbulent tides have rushed up the Bay of Fundy. The force of the tides ground the sandstone bedrock to sediment and carried loads of silt up the river that flow into Chignecto Bay and Cumberland Basin.

A tidal bore is a phenomenon in which the front of the rising tide propagates up a river as a bore, a churning and tumbling wall of water advancing up the river not unlike a breaking surf riding up a beach. The rise and fall of ocean tides is caused by the gravitational "pull" of the moon on the earth's watery blanket. At most places along the ocean shores, high tides occur regulary every 12 hours, 25 minutes.

In the open ocean the tide only rises and falls a fraction of a meter. However, in most V-shaped bays and inlets the tide enters the broad end and the water literally "piles up" as it moves up the bay. In certain areas, such as the Bay of Fundy, the natural period of oscillation is very close to the tidal period and, just like water sloshing back and forth in a bowl, the rise and fall of the tide is greatly amplified. Thus, the tide water enters the bay at its widest point, and as it passes along towards the head of the bay, it is in effect squeezed by the ever-narrowing sides and by the constant "shallowing" of the bottom. At the very head of the bay this advancing tide becomes a wave varying from just a ripple to several feet in height, and this wave continues into and up the rivers which empty into the bay. This wave is referred to as a "Tidal Bore". Thus we have the phenomenon of a river changing its flow before your very eyes, created by the tidal wave, or bore, flowing in OVER the outgoing river water.

There are three things you will need to do to claim this cache and email me the answers to the following questions;
1) This tidal bore is located on a Salt Marsh. How did this marsh form? 2) Name two other tidal bores in this region?
3) The world's highest tide was recorded near here, what is the name of that place?

If you want you can take a picture and post it of you and your GPS with the Tidal Bore in the background.

For more informative links see:

Tidal Bores & Tide Times (visit link)

 http://www.bayoffundytourism.com/tides/times/

 http://www.thehighesttides.com/the-highest-tides-locations-bay-of-fundy.shtml

http://www.burncoathead.com/