Do large bodies of water (oceans) curve perfectly with the curvature of the Earth?

Question

Do large bodies of water (oceans) curve perfectly with the curvature of the Earth?

In: Physics

Answer 1

There are a few forces acting which mean no, not exactly.

The moon (and the sun to a lesser extent) make the ocean bulge at zero degrees and 180 degrees to the other body. This is the cause of the tides.

You also have the centrifugal effect near to the Earth’s equator, although the Earth itself does bulge about 40km at the waist.

And there is the effect of gravity which is non-uniform due to the large scale variations in density within the Earth.