Open AccessOceanic Tidal Loads and Regional Heterogeneity in Western Europe
Author(s) -
Melchior P.
Publication year - 1967
Publication title -
geophysical journal of the royal astronomical society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1365-246X
pISSN - 0016-8009
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-246x.1967.tb06240.x
Subject(s) - geology , crust , oceanic crust , oceanography , climatology , seismology , geophysics , tectonics , subduction
Summary Elastic parameters gathered from records of the horizontal components of the Earth‐tide show regional variations attaining 20% or more. In Europe this heterogeneity of the results affects essentially the semidiurnal waves. These waves are the only ones which undergo the important indirect disturbances brought about by the tides in the Atlantic Ocean, the Channel and the North Sea, the diurnal tides being very small in these basins. As the periodically changing loads exerted by oceanic tides can only affect the outer parts of the globe, it seems logical to ascribe these regional variations to possible heterogeneities in the crust or in the upper‐mantle. An east‐west strip of very important anomalies have been detected in the Ardennes (Belgium). Aiming at the actual extent of this strip, a detailed survey of clinometric observations covering the Ardennes‐Eifel Range is now in state of development.