5 Secrets to Understand Waves and Currents - Oceanography YouTube Lecture Handouts

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5 Secrets to Understand Waves and Currents - Oceanography

Ocean Waves

  • Waves are most commonly caused by wind.
  • Surface waves are created by the friction between wind and surface water.
  • Wind blows across the surface of the ocean or lake, the continual trouble creates a wave.
Illustration: Ocean Waves
  • Secrets to understand waves and currents are as below.

1. Wavelength

Wavelength is the distance between successive crests or troughs of a wave.

Amplitude is the maximum displacement or distance moved by a point on a vibrating body or wave measured from its equilibrium position.

Illustration: 1. Wavelength

2. Freak Waves

Rogue waves or freak waves or monster waves or episodic waves or killer waves or extreme waves or abnormal waves are large, unexpected and suddenly appearing surface waves that can be extremely dangerous, even to large ships such as ocean liners.

Illustration: 2. Freak Waves

3. Breaking of Waves

Breaking wave is a wave whose amplitude reaches critical level at which some process can suddenly start to occur that causes large amounts of wave energy to be transformed into turbulent kinetic energy.

Illustration: 3. Breaking of Waves

4. Spilling Breakers, Surging Breakers and Plunging Breakers

Illustration: 4. Spilling Breakers, Surging Breakers and Plunging Breakers

5. Wave

Illustration: 4. Spilling Breakers, Surging Breakers and Plunging Breakers

Manishika