Tide pools occur along cliffed coasts at and above high water level. They are filled by the incoming tide, swash and spray, and may therefore have upper levels above high water level, and are drained with the falling tide. The pools, whether open directly to the sea or indirectly by a series of interconnected channels, are by definition drained during each ebb, to, at, or near low water level. Because of their location within the intertidal zone and the continued recycling of water, they support an abundance of marine organisms characteristic of more sheltered rocky coast environments (Singletary, 1972).
Tide pools originate in several ways. First, they may enlarge an existing pothole or closed surface pool until it connects directly with the sea. On limestone platforms where pools are perhaps most common, solution plays an important role in enlarging the pools (Fig. 1). Second, they may originate by quarrying along lines of lithological or structural weakness. In this case, they are...
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Reference
Singletary, R. L., 1972. Tide pools: Nature's marine aquaria, Sea Frontiers 18, 2–9.
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© 1982 Hutchinson Ross Publishing Company
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Short, A.D. (1982). Tide pools . In: Beaches and Coastal Geology. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-30843-1_470
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-30843-1_470
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