Skip to main content

Tides, Planetary

  • Living reference work entry
  • Latest version View entry history
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Astrobiology

Definition

Tides are deformations of a planet or natural satellite caused by periodic variations of the local gravity acceleration as the planet or satellite rotates and revolves in the gravity field of a (disturbing) body. Tidal disturbances of a planet are primarily caused by the Sun and by the planet’s satellites. The planet will – in turn – also tidally disturb the satellites. On the Earth, tides are caused by the Sun and the Moon. Marine tides – the tidal deformation of the surface of the oceans – are most obvious and well known. In addition, there are atmospheric pressure variations caused by tidal accelerations and tidal deformations of the solid planet. Dissipation of tidal deformation energy can be a substantial heat source for planets and satellites and can cause changes in the rotation and orbital parameters.

Overview

The equilibrium surface of a planet depends on the distribution of mass in its interior (interior structure) and its rotation rate. The gravitational and...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Institutional subscriptions

References and Further Reading

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tilman Spohn .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2022 Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Spohn, T., Walterová, M. (2022). Tides, Planetary. In: Gargaud, M., et al. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_1592-3

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_1592-3

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-27833-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27833-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Physics and AstronomyReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Chemistry, Materials and Physics

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Tides, Planetary
    Published:
    15 March 2023

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_1592-3

  2. Original

    Tides, Planetary
    Published:
    06 May 2015

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_1592-2