Question

Compare and contrast seasons and tides in temperate and tropical areas with respect to the positions of Earth and Luna, Earth’s tilt relative to its orbital plane, and insolation. Include in your answer: a. a description for the reasons for seasons b. how tides are produced and the reasons that tides are more extreme in temperate latitudes compared to tropical latitudes c. how tides affect the vertical distribution (zonation) of marine animals d. descriptions of specific adaptations of animals for survival in splash, high tide, middle tide and low tide zones.

Answer 1

• Tropical regions are located near equator, and receives strong sunlight. The tropical region experience dry and rainy season. In tropical areas there can be successive high tides and successive low tides, it occurs at lunar day. The inequalities greater when the moon is at maximum declination, at this time moon will be over the tropical region.Temperate regions will experience four seasons, summer, autumn, winter, spring.
• Tilting of earth's rotational axis towards or away from sun causes the seasons. The tropic region experience only wet and dry seasons because ,when the earth tilts, sun rays and the tropical rain belt get shifted from north to the southern tropics, this result in formation of only summer and rainy season. Similarly four seasons in temperate region is also caused because of the tilting of earth's axis.
• Tides are formed because of the gravity interaction between earth and moon. some place experience high tides whereas some other place experience low tides because tidal range is highly depends on the shape of ocean floor, extreme tide occurs when the gravitational forces of earth and moon strengthen in same or opposite direction.
• Tides affect the marine ecosystem, they need to withstand the crashing waves. During high or low tide some marine plants and animals become partially covered or uncovered, this makes them difficulty in surviving.
• Marine animals obtained several adaptation to survive in tides, like ochre sea star adapted to longer period exposure to air, fishes adapted to breath air from surface, this helped them to survive when tide is out