Tide pools (in the USA) also known as tidal pools, or in the UK, Australia, etc, rock pools, are intertidal pools of seawater which occur reasonably often on rocky shores. As the tide goes out over a rocky shore, ocean water stays put in depressions in the rocky substrate, and these turn into isolated pools. The majority of these pools are exposed only when the tide goes out.
(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.)
Tide pools range in size from small and shallow, to large and quite deep. The smaller ones are often found far up on the shore, and the larger ones are often found nearer to the low tide mark.
Even in pools that are situated very high up in the intertidal zone, the changing of the tides twice a day (or only once a day in some areas) replenishes or freshens the seawater in what otherwise might become a stagnant pool.
See also
British Isles rockpool life
External links
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