Tides on the Newfoundland grand banks

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Abstract
Tidal analyses of bottom pressure data are presented for 8 sites on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. The principal diurnal and semidiurnal constituents are qualitatively similar to the charts compiled by Godin (1980) but there are quantitative differences. Five of the gauges were moored on the 400‐m isobath and results from these sites are used to specify the outer boundary conditions for a numerical model of five constituents. The model results are compared with data from the three shelf stations and coastal gauges with agreement to 0.01 m for elevation and 7 degrees for phase. Intercomparisons for tidal currents were less favourable but it is shown that the discrepancy in predicting the path of a passive drifter would be O(100 m). This is substantially less than typical errors associated with iceberg prediction models.