Life on a Non-Tidally Locked Moon

So I'm thinking about writing a fantasy and I want certain parts to be plausible (though I'm sticking way towards the end of soft sci-fi).

In the world I'm creating there is a cataclysmic tide that overcomes the area every few centuries or so as well as several massive tides that come at a seemingly random basis every few years. My explanation for these phenomena is that their world is an earth-like moon around a major gas giant. Therefore, the massive tide happens because the moon isn't tidally locked, and overtime moves around the whole world. The smaller tides would be caused by other moons approaching this moon's orbit. So my questions are:

• Is that at all plausible or am I wrong about how the tidal system would work (non-astronomy/physics major here). Is there another solution that I'm not thinking of?

• How would day/night work on a moon like this? Could there be seasons?

• Where would the habitable regions of the planet be?

• How would the gas giant's magnetic field effect the planet (for story's sake I'm assuming its magically very powerful)?

• What kind of star would this moon need to support and Earth like planet?

• Is it possible for the Planettide to occur over a section of moon in an abrupt fashion, or would it come creeping in very slowly?

• What other interesting or unusual things would be different about this world than ours because of it being a moon?

posted about 7 years ago

B0tanicus‭

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