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>>imurra+(OP)
So it's a bunch of complicated splashy water that is excited by the moon moving past, and follows along at the same frequency - but it's not a simple wave travelling around the world, for various reasons.

The earth itself is squashed like that with two bulges, but the water on the surface exhibits a more complex motion.

>>HPsqua+H7
> So it's a bunch of complicated splashy water that is excited by the moon moving past

This explanation is so much better.

If people want to use big words they can say fluid dynamics, but yeah, it's a complex system with a big orbiting body pulling on it regularly, that gives the complex system rhythm but not order.