Range on the Spanish Med - a query

Steve Clayton

Steve Clayton

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Joined
22 May 2003
Messages
7,478
Location
Benitachell - Spain
www.aloeland.co.uk
Sat here today in Marina de Denia and we are seeing a range of about 0.6 - 1.0 metre. The occurrence of the range is a regular 2 to 3 times an hour. There appears to be no tidal flow now but this morning there was a flow in and out of almost a knot. Boats in the marina are rocking gently.

We've heard from a friend on El Portet beach (a small cove) that she has never seen the water so high.

It isn't due to pressure (I get enough of that from SWMBO /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif)This is the first time we've encountered this (in a year) so what causes this to happen /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

Steve
www.seraph-sailing.com
 
The cause seems unlikely, coz you'd have heard about in other ways, but seismic activity can cause this sort of harmonic water movement. I remember being in a Greek port where the taverna owner told us that before a minor earthquake, the water in the harbour rose and fell several times in the course of a day, even overtopping the quay on one occasion.
 
Your description is exactly that of a Tsunami which reached Wellington Harbour NZ following the Chilean earthquake in the 1960s

Something else to tell your grandchildren. You should certainly put it on your CV.
 
Very interesting, hadn't thought of a earthquake consequence.

Found this on a Mediterranean Earthquake site:
EARTHQUAKE on 10/08/2005 at 00:39 (UTC)
TURKEY 23 km S Akhisar

MAGNITUDE: ML 3.1

Guess then that it could have been this that we were seeing the effects of.
 
Rissaga

It is a common occurrence in spanish coast, especially in the port of ciutadella, +baleares and catalan coast, described as variations in water height (>1m) in a short time (between a few minutes and some hours)

There is no officially agreed explanation of rissaga phenomenon, but consensus seems to be around atmospheric causes
 
Nah,
far too hot for that. But a couple of times the water was too high to get off the boat; and then a few minutes later no problem. There was a dinghy and a PWC washed under the pontoon and then the water rose trapping them and doing minor damage.
Guess I'll have to refresh my memory re "if I anchor now then what depth will be under me at low water!"
 
And the answer is...

From the weekly paper...

A mini-tsunami hit the coast of Denia, Javea, and Ibiza on Wednesday morning due to an earthquake measuring 3.5 on the richter scale in Algeria.
n Denia the promenade and the pier were under water and waves up to 1.3 metres were seen throughout the rest of the day
 
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