In oceanography, a tidal resonance occurs when the tide excites one of the resonant modes of the ocean. The effect is most striking when a continental shelf is about a quarter wavelength wide. Then an incident tidal wave can be reinforced by reflections between the coast and the shelf edge, the result producing a much higher tidal range at the coast.

Resonance is the phenomenon, pertaining to oscillatory dynamical systems, wherein amplitude rises are caused by an external force with time-varying amplitude with the same frequency of variation as the natural frequency of the system. The amplitude rises that occur are a result of the fact that applied external forces at the natural frequency entail a net increase in mechanical energy of the system.