The following is a explanation of spring and neap tides in
relation to lunar and solar cycles. Since antiquity, people have
noticed that oceans exhibit a much greater tidal range around
the time of the full Moon  and new Moon. This is when the Moon
and Sun are either together in the sky or are on opposite sides
of the heavens. Higher tides occur during these Moon phases
because the Sun also exerts a gravitational pull on our oceans,
although it is only 46 percent as strong as the Moon's. When the
gravitational effects of the Sun and the Moon combine, we get
spring tides, which have nothing to do with the season of
spring. The term refers to the action of the seas springing out
and then springing back. These are times of high high tides and
low low tides. A week later, during either of the two quarter
Moon phases , when the Sun and Moon are at right angles to each
other and their tidal influences partially cancel each other
out, neap tides occur, and the tidal range is minimal. In fact,
because the oceans take