Did you know?...
The ocean tides on your planet, Earth, are initiated by the tidal force (a gradiant in intensity) of my gravity and are magnified by a host of effects in Earth's oceans. The gravitational tidal force arises because the side of Earth facing me is attracted more strongly by my gravity than is the center of the Earth and—even less so—the Earth's far side. The gravitational tide stretches the Earth's oceans into an ellipse with the Earth in the center. The effect takes the form of two bulges—elevated sea level relative to the Earth; one nearest me and one farthest from me. Since these two bulges rotate around the Earth once a day as it spins on its axis, ocean water is continuously rushing towards the ever-moving bulges. The effects of the two bulges and the massive ocean currents chasing them are magnified by an interplay of other effects; namely frictional coupling of water to Earth's rotation through the ocean floors, inertia of water's movement, ocean basins that get shallower near land, and oscillations between different ocean basins. The magnifying effect is a bit like water sloshing high up the sloped end of a bathtub after a relatively small disturbance of one's body in the deep part of the tub.
Neat eh?
