The largest tides in the world: week 3

160 million tonnes of seawater flow in and out of a small area in Nova scotia. This small area is known as the Bay of Fundy. The seawater amount is more than all the freshwater rivers on earth combined. This flow of seawater comes in the form of tides in a span of 6 hours twice a day. These tides can reach a peak of about 16 meters. Twice a month when the earth aligns with both the moon and sun, a larger than usual gravitational pull affects the ocean creating something known as a spring tide. Spring tides occur throughout the year and they have nothing to do with the season instead, they concern when the bay reaches its highest levels.

The Bay of Fundy’s relentless beating tides has exposed the Earth’s richest deposit of Carboniferous fossils near Joggins cliff, an area near the bay. These fossils are believed to date back from 359 to 299 million years ago. Among these deposits are ancient forests and Earth’s first reptiles. In 2008 Joggins cliff was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site. 

For more information visit Canadian geographic and the Bay of Fundy tourism, and that is a wrap thank you for joining these three weeks of Canada’s uniquely strange climate segment.