Tide pools (also tidal pools or rock pools) are rocky pools by oceans that are filled with seawater. Tide pools can either be small and shallow or large and deep. The small ones are usually found far back on the shore and the large ones are found nearer to the ocean. Tide pools are formed as a high tide comes in over a rocky shore. Water fills depressions in the ground, which turn into isolated pools as the tide retreats. This process, repeated twice a day, replenishes the seawater in what otherwise might be a stagnant pool. The worlds oceans as seen from the South Pacific Oceans (from Okeanos, Greek for river, the ancient Greeks noticed that a strong current flowed off Gibraltar, and assumed it was a great river) cover almost three quarters (71%) of the surface of the Earth, and nearly half of the... Sea water is water from a sea or ocean. ... The tide is the cyclic rising and falling of Earths ocean surface caused by the tidal forces of the Moon and the Sun acting on the Earth. ... Water stagnation occurs when water stops flowing. ...

The area that is covered by high tide and exposed by low tide is called the intertidal zone, or foreshore. This area is often further divided into different zones based on the life forms that live there. The foreshore, also called the intertidal or littoral zone, is that part of a beach that lies between average high tide and average low tide. ...

Life in tide pools

Organisms that have made tidepools their home must be well adapted to adjust to the drastic changes in environment that come with the changing of tides each day. Organisms living in this environment must have adaptions for both wet and dry conditions. Hazards include being smashed or carried away by rough waves. Typical inhabitants include sea anemones, barnacles, chitons, crabs, isopods, limpets, mussels, sea stars, snails, sea cucumbers, sea urchins, and whelks. Families Many, see text. ... Superorders A barnacle is a type of arthropod belonging to infraclass Cirripedia in the subphylum Crustacea and is hence distantly related to crabs and lobsters. ... Families See text. ... Sections The term crab is often applied to several different groups of short (nose to tail) decapod crustaceans with thick exoskeletons, but only members of the Brachyura are true crabs. ... SubOrders Anthuridea Asellota Calabozoida Epicaridea Flabellifera Microcerberidea Oniscidea Phreatoicidea Valvifera Isopods are one of the most diverse orders of Crustaceans, with many species living in all environments, and are common in shallow marine waters. ... Genera Acmaea Bathyacmaea Lottia Notoacmea Pectinodonta Problacmaea Limpets are marine mollusks in the family Acmaeidae with flattened, cone-shaped shells. ... Subclasses Heterodonta Palaeoheterodonta A mussel is a bivalve mollusk that can be found in lakes, rivers, creeks, intertidal areas, and throughout the ocean. ... Orders Forcipulatida Paxillosida Platyasterida Spinulosida Valvatida starfish redirects here. ... The name snail applies to most members of the molluscan class Gastropoda that have coiled shells. ... Orders Subclass Apodacea  Apodida  Molpadiida Subclass Aspidochirotacea  Aspidochirotida  Elasipodida Subclass Dendrochirotacea  Dactylochirotida  Dendrochirotida The sea cucumber is an echinoderm of the class Holothuroidea, with an elongated body and leathery skin and is mostly found on the sea floor worldwide. ... Subclasses Euechinoidea Superorder Atelostomata Order Cassiduloida Order Spatangoida (heart urchins) Superorder Diadematacea Order Diadematoida Order Echinothurioida Order Pedinoida Superorder Echinacea Order Arbacioida Order Echinoida Order Phymosomatoida Order Salenioida Order Temnopleuroida Superorder Gnathostomata Order Clypeasteroida (sand dollars) Order Holectypoida Perischoechinoidea Order Cidaroida (pencil urchins) Group of black, long-spined Caribbean sea... A whelk is a large marine gastropod (snail) found in temperate waters. ...

The tides bring fresh oxygen and food to the pools twice a day. Between tides, some of the smaller pools become warm and begin to dry up. In order to survive, the animals hide under rocks and seaweed. Sessile creatures such as the barnacles can seal themselves off or retract their appendages, the better to conserve water while exposed to air. Some deeper pools will not dry out completely between tides, and can even harbor small fish. General Name, Symbol, Number oxygen, O, 8 Chemical series Nonmetals, chalcogens Group, Period, Block 16, 2, p Appearance transparent (gas) very pale blue (liquid) Atomic mass 15. ... Seaweed-covered rocks in the UK Biologists, specifically Phycologists, consider seaweed to refer any of a large number of marine benthic algae that are multicellular, macrothallic, and thus differentiated from most algae that tend to be microscopic in size [1]. Seaweeds are usually types of brown or red algae that... This page is a candidate to be moved to Wiktionary. ... The Guppy, also known as guppie (Poecilia reticulata) is one of the most popular freshwater aquarium fish species in the world. ...

It should be noted that disturbing the animals in a tide pool can be hazardous to them. Even moving seaweed can expose small creatures underneath that can die in the direct sun, and prying loose any creatures held fast to the rocks is almost always fatal to the animal.

External links

• Oregonstate.edu info page on Tidepools