Tidal Wave? Please.

I have tried to figure this out by myself, but I simply couldn’t. So I come to ATS for help.

I remember hearing that the moon affects the land in much the same way it affects the water. It was called lunar gravitational bulge or something like that. I searched several different ways and I am still empty handed.

The reason that I ask is that it seems to me pretty obvious that the gravitational pull could have easily cracked those stressed fault lines and caused that Tsunami in Japan.

And if that is at all correct, can we Please start calling this one a Tidal Wave.

Tidal Wave just sounds much cooler than Tsunami.

I dont think theres anything cool about either

reply to post by IAMNOTCRAZY


Tidal wave does sound cooler, I will give you that.....

I watched a video about a Japanese ship the had to experience the Tsunami wave. I watched as it cam in. The boat climbed up the huge wave. Up, up, and then up. When it reached the top, it settled onto the ocean surface. There was no "down" It merely climbed up and on top of the surface. I was awestruck and amazed. I said, isn't that what the tides do ?

but if you say Tsunami softlike and fast it sounds alot cooler than if you said tidal wave the same way...try it you will see what im saying....

Originally posted by gdaub23
but if you say Tsunami softlike and fast it sounds alot cooler than if you said tidal wave the same way...try it you will see what im saying....

edit on 22-3-2011 by gdaub23 because: m

BUT you have to say TIDAL WAVE in a big was.....With ECHO its way cooler the Tsunami....I think we Should Call it BIG ASZ WAVE

Originally posted by president
And if that is at all correct, can we Please start calling this one a Tidal Wave.

NO.

There are distinct differences between both the causative factors as well as the immediate and overall effects they have on the creation, size and impact of either one.

A tidal wave is the direct result of Atmospheric conditions, and their creation, size, impact and/or effects are typically more localized and region-specific in nature .. think West Indies type locations.

Tsunamis are the direct result of disturbances within or under the earth's crust. They can also appear or be created nearly anywhere in the world due to earthquakes and tectonic activity being more the causative factors in their creation.

Tsunamis also have the ability or potential to wreak havoc and destruction to far greater distanced land masses or shorelines than a tidal wave.

A tidal wave and a tsunami are two different animals. A tsunami is created when a whole lot of water is very suddenly displaced. A tidal wave is caused by atmospheric and gravitational forces. So gravitational forces may be the cause of an earthquake, but a tsunami will only occur if enough water is displaced to cause one.

Clear as last week's coffee, yes? Confuses me ..I always thought they were the same thing.

Originally posted by 12m8keall2c

Originally posted by president
And if that is at all correct, can we Please start calling this one a Tidal Wave.

A tidal wave is the direct result of Atmospheric conditions

The moon's gravitational pull is the atmospheric condition that I was refering to.

I understand that it did not directly cause the water to rise that much, but it did cause that line to crack. and therefore it is at least indirectly responsible.
And since gravity did play a role in this, would it really be too out of place to give it its credit.

Originally posted by 12m8keall2c

Originally posted by president
And if that is at all correct, can we Please start calling this one a Tidal Wave.

NO.

There are distinct differences between both the causative factors as well as the immediate and overall effects they have on the creation, size and impact of either one.

A tidal wave is the direct result of Atmospheric conditions, and their creation, size, impact and/or effects are typically more localized and region-specific in nature .. think West Indies type locations.

Tsunamis are the direct result of disturbances within or under the earth's crust. They can also appear or be created nearly anywhere in the world due to earthquakes and tectonic activity being more the causative factors in their creation.

Tsunamis also have the ability or potential to wreak havoc and destruction to far greater distanced land masses or shorelines than a tidal wave.

I tend to agree with the overall content of your post, however the "no" part is debatable. The linguistic trend is to stop using the expression "tidal wave" to refer to a tsunami as you say.

However, the dictionary hasn't quite caught up with the linguistic trend, I suspect eventually it will. Until it does, I think the "no" part of your post fails to reconcile the linguistic trends as well as Wikipedia does. Here are my sources:

Tidal Wave

Definition of TIDAL WAVE
1 : something overwhelming especially in quantity or volume
2
a : an unusually high sea wave that is triggered especially by an earthquake
b : an unusual rise of water alongshore due to strong winds

Notice the dictionary still refers to an earthquake, actually even with "preferential" treatment by saying "especially by an earthquake".

If you wanted to petition the dictionary folks to change their definition to match yours, I would support that, your definitions are more logical, as "tidal wave" is somewhat of a misnomer for earthquake-caused large waves.

However, that definition, unfortunately, still exists. Wikipedia recognizes this and the trend so it's actually right this time:

Tsunami

Tsunami are sometimes referred to as tidal waves. In recent years, this term has fallen out of favor, especially in the scientific community, because tsunami actually have nothing to do with tides. The once-popular term derives from their most common appearance, which is that of an extraordinarily high tidal bore. Tsunami and tides both produce waves of water that move inland, but in the case of tsunami the inland movement of water is much greater and lasts for a longer period, giving the impression of an incredibly high tide. Although the meanings of "tidal" include "resembling"[8] or "having the form or character of"[9] the tides, and the term tsunami is no more accurate because tsunami are not limited to harbours, use of the term tidal wave is discouraged by geologists and oceanographers.

This essentially support your posts other than the "no" part, for which it provides some clarification,

The irony of this change is that "tsunami" is just as much of a misnomer as tidal wave, because in Tsunami comes from the Japanese expression "harbor wave" and it many cases it's NOT a harbor wave:

The term tsunami comes from the Japanese 津波, composed of the two kanji 津 (tsu) meaning "harbor" and 波 (nami), meaning "wave".

(If you don't have Asian language support you won't see the Kanji but they are defined so this shouldn't be a problem).

So you could say that calling the big wave that occurs after an earthquake has nothing to do with tides so we shouldn't call it a tidal wave, but you could use the same argument to claim that if the wave doesn't occur in a harbor then it shouldn't be called a harbor wave. Therefore they're both misnomers when the cause is an earthquake, and the wave is not in a harbor, but scientists prefer the latter misnomer for the earthquake induced waves, even if they aren't in a harbor.

Maybe they should invent a new word that's not a misnomer? Since most of the world doesn't speak Japanese hopefully they won't even notice the "harbor wave" misnomer when the tsunami doesn't occur in a harbor?

Originally posted by gdaub23
but if you say Tsunami softlike and fast it sounds alot cooler than if you said tidal wave the same way...try it you will see what im saying....

edit on 22-3-2011 by gdaub23 because: m

Tsu... na... mi...
Yea, I really like that.
I could totally see a couple of old Hawiian guys standing at the beach embracing impact.
thanks.