ABSTRACT
Tidal data are easy to obtain with tide gauges and submerged water level recorders. The diurnal and semidiurnal tides are the dominant phenomenon controlling the sea level variations in the Great Barrier Reef. The tides of the Great Barrier Reef are mixed everywhere except near the coast in the southern region near Broad Sound where they are semidiurnal. The tides show marked latitudinal and cross-shelf changes. The linear, analytical tidal models of D. S. Battisti and A. J. Clarke for reeffree waters are able to reproduce the standing wave behavior of the tides off Townsville. To explain the progressive wave behavior of the tides south of Townsville, J. C. Andrews and L. Bode used a depth-averaged, twodimensional, linear, numerical model of the continental shelf.
