This study investigates tidal-wave amplification and phase shift along a propagation path from the northern Arabian Gulf to the Shatt Al-Basrah Regulator (Basrah Province, southern Iraq). We analyze a continuous one-year (2022) record of hourly water-level measurements from two stations located at the entrance of Khor Abdullah and at the Shatt Al-Basrah Regulator. Harmonic analysis was performed using the MATLAB WorldTide toolbox for tidal and tidal-current analysis and prediction. Results show a northward increase in maximum water level, accompanied by progressive amplification of tidal-wave amplitude and an increase in tidal range. At the regulator, the maximum water level is approximately 0.5 m higher than at the Khor Abdullah entrance. Among the resolved constituents, the principal lunar semidiurnal constituent (M2) has the largest amplitude at both stations and increases by ~100% between them. A phase lag of 52.19° (≈108 min) indicates that high tide at the Shatt Al-Basrah Regulator occurs nearly two hours later than at the entrance to Khor Abdullah. These findings provide insight into tidal-wave transformation in the northern Arabian Gulf and may help improve navigation safety, coastal infrastructure planning, and studies of sediment dynamics in the region.
Lafta et al. (Sun,) studied this question.