A wave balanced by the Coriolis effect that travels along a coastline with its largest amplitude at the shore, decaying offshore over a few hundred kilometres on a continental shelf. In the Northern Hemisphere it keeps the coast on its right. Tides entering a basin travel as Kelvin waves around its edges, which produces the rotating amphidromic pattern and explains why one side of a channel can have a much bigger range than the other.
Range is bigger on the French side of the Channel, classic Kelvin wave behaviour with the coast on the right.
Also heard as
- coastal Kelvin wave
- coastally trapped wave
Related terms
Amphidromic point
A point in the sea where a tidal constituent has zero range and around which its high water rotates.
Cotidal line
A map line through every place where high water of a tide or constituent arrives at the same moment.
Corange line
A line joining places that share the same tidal range or the same constituent amplitude.
Storm surge
A rise of water above the predicted tide caused by a storm's winds and low pressure.