The Tides of Ancient Times Were Awesome Events

In the days when the earth was young, the coming in of the tide must have been a stupendous event. If the moon was, as we have supposed in an earlier chapter, formed in the tearing away of a part of the outer crust of the earth, it must have remained for a time very close to its parent. Its present position is the consequence of being pushed farther and farther away from the earth for some 2 billion years. When it was half its present distance from the earth, its power over the ocean tides was eight times as great as now, and the tidal range may even then have been several hundred feet on certain shores. But when the earth was only a few million years old, assuming that the deep ocean basins were then formed, the sweep of the tides must have been beyond all comprehension. Twice each day, the fury of the incoming waters would inundate all the margins of the continents. The range of the surf must have been enormously extended by the reach of the tides, so that the waves would batter the crests of high cliffs and sweep inland to erode the continents. The fury of such tides would contribute not a little to the general bleakness and grimness and uninhabitablity of the young earth.

Under such conditions, not living thing could exist on the shores or pass beyond them...

Notes:

They were so strong that they prevented life from existing on the shoreline.

Folksonomies: nature

Taxonomies:
/art and entertainment/shows and events/sports event (0.540677)
/health and fitness/disorders/mental disorder/depression (0.493973)
/sports/walking (0.455791)

Keywords:
deep ocean basins (0.961359 (neutral:0.000000)), ocean tides (0.796524 (positive:0.290065)), stupendous event (0.751329 (positive:0.274053)), outer crust (0.684716 (negative:-0.453803)), earlier chapter (0.667609 (negative:-0.410275)), certain shores (0.666516 (neutral:0.000000)), sweep inland (0.665680 (negative:-0.291391)), earth (0.662751 (negative:-0.039109)), incoming waters (0.633149 (negative:-0.446160)), tidal range (0.631264 (neutral:0.000000)), present position (0.624572 (negative:-0.428717)), high cliffs (0.620989 (negative:-0.291391)), present distance (0.608484 (positive:0.340865)), general bleakness (0.586769 (negative:-0.564514)), young earth. (0.566872 (negative:-0.564514)), continents (0.396995 (negative:-0.368776)), fury (0.392460 (negative:-0.505337)), consequence (0.316616 (negative:-0.428717)), margins (0.307053 (negative:-0.446160)), crests (0.304856 (negative:-0.291391)), comprehension (0.301724 (neutral:0.000000)), parent (0.284742 (neutral:0.000000)), waves (0.282886 (negative:-0.291391)), feet (0.282660 (neutral:0.000000)), thing (0.282459 (negative:-0.377649)), moon (0.281859 (neutral:0.000000)), time (0.280765 (neutral:0.000000)), reach (0.279753 (neutral:0.000000)), power (0.277659 (positive:0.290065)), times (0.277439 (positive:0.290065))

Entities:
2 billion years:Quantity (0.010000 (neutral:0.000000)), million years:Quantity (0.010000 (neutral:0.000000)), hundred feet:Quantity (0.010000 (neutral:0.000000))

Concepts:
Moon (0.960269): dbpedia | freebase
Tide (0.731708): dbpedia | freebase
Oceanography (0.643639): dbpedia | freebase | opencyc
Geodesy (0.551531): dbpedia | freebase | opencyc
Coast (0.536260): dbpedia | freebase | opencyc
Tidal force (0.508198): dbpedia | freebase | yago
Seleucus of Seleucia (0.505060): dbpedia | freebase | yago
Tides (0.491135): dbpedia

 The Sea Around Us
Books, Brochures, and Chapters>Book:  Carson, Rachel L. (1951), The Sea Around Us, Oxford University Press, New York, Retrieved on 2010-11-30
Folksonomies: nature