What is a Neap Tide?
A neap tide is a relatively low high tide, or a generally low tidal range between low and high tides. During the moon’s first and fourth quarter, periods of neap tides are experienced, due to the way in which the sun and moon act on the Earth to create tides. The opposite of a neap tide is a spring tide, a strong tide which is extremely high or very low, creating a large tidal range. Because the tidal cycle is well known, scientists can predict when spring and neap tides will occur, and how high they will be. Tides are caused by an interaction of factors. The spinning motion of the Earth plays a role, as do the gravitational pulls of the moon and the Sun. In a neap tide, the sun and moon are at right angles to each other, pulling in opposite directions. These pulls effectively balance each other out, keeping the water level relatively stable. While low and high tides do occur during a neap tide, the range in height between them is very minimal. By contrast, in a spring tide, the Sun, m
