The problem of the reflexion of tides in an enclosed sea such as the North Sea at a point at which it either enters the ocean or its width suddenly increases is considered by investigating the reflexion of a Kelvin wave at the open end of a rotating uniform semi-infinite channel.

It is shown that for a given channel, if the wave period is less than a pendulum day, then, according to the linearized theory of long waves in a rotating system, the reflexion coefficient increases with the angular velocity of rotation. It is also shown that there is a resonance effect for certain critical channel widths, namely, those at which extra modes within the channel become possible.