Abstract
THE traditional method of measuring the tide by referring sea-level elevations to a stationary structure cannot be applied to the open ocean. Tidal pressure fluctuations on the sea floor, however, are a good indication of the mass variations of the water column. In order to detect changes of water head of 0.5 cm in 5 km depth an instrumental stability and resolution of 10−6 is required. Records obtained with vibrating wire transducers, corrected for temperature effects, indicate that this is possible1–4. The association of an adequately heat treated Ni Span C Bourdon tube with a sensitive optical detector5 permits deep-sea tide gauges of great simplicity to be made, with ample resolution, negligible temperature dependency and predictable creep characteristics.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Hicks, S. D., Goodheart, A. J., and Iseley, C. W., J. Geophys. Res., 70, 1827 (1965).
Eyries, M., Dars, M., and Eldely, L., Cah. Oceanogr., 9, 1 (1964).
Snodgrass, F. E., Science, 162, 78 (1968).
Nowroozi, A. A., Ewing, M., Nafe, J. E., and Flugel, M., J. Geophys. Res., 73, 1921 (1968).
Jones, R. V., and Richards, J. C. S., J. Sci. Instrum., 36, 90 (1959).
Filloux, J. H., Geophysics, 32, 978 (1967).
Andrade, E. N., Proc. Roy. Soc., 84, 11 (1910).
Mott, N. F., Phil. Mag., 44, 742 (1953).
Filloux, J. H., Deep Sea Res. (in the press).
Bogdanov, K. T., Kim, K. V., and Magarik, V. A., Tr. Inst. Okeanol. Akad. Nauk SSSR, 75, 73 (1964).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
FILLOUX, J. Deep Sea Tide Gauge with Optical Readout of Bourdon Tube Rotations. Nature 226, 935–937 (1970). https://doi.org/10.1038/226935a0
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/226935a0
- Springer Nature Limited