Waves

WavesdlsLurbances of Lhe waLer surfacecan be seen aL any beach uesplLe an abundance of

observaLlons an undersLandlng of sea waves has developed slowly 1he anclenLs knew LhaL waves were
somehow generaLed by wlnd buL noL unLll Lhe 19
Lh
cenLury were Lhe flrsL maLhemaLlcal descrlpLlons of
waved developed
1he ocean surface dlsplays a complex and conLlnually changlng paLLerna paLLern LhaL never repeaLs
lLself Ccean waves come ln many slzes and shape ranglng from Llny rlpples formed by llghL breezes
Lhrough enormous sLrom waves Lens of meLer hlgh Lo Lhe Lldes
8ecause of Lhelr complexlclLy ocean waves usually do noL lend Lhemselves Lo accuraLe descrlpLlon or
compleLe explanaLlon ln slmple Lerms neverLheless oceanographers commonly work wlLh slmpllfled
explanaLlons and descrlpLlons LhaL help Lhem undersLand wave phenomena

LeL us conslder slmple waves and Lhelr parLs as Lhey pass a flxed polnL We can make such waves by
sLeadlly bobblng Lhe end of a pencll ln a basln of waLer or a sLlll pond surface 1he waves move away
from Lhe dlsLurbance so we call Lhem progresslve waves Lach wave conslsL of cresL Lhe hlghesL
polnL of Lhe wave and a Lrough Lhe lowesL parL of Lhe wave 1he verLlcal dlsLance beLween cresL and
succeedlng Lrough ls Lhe wave helghL P 1he Llme (usually measured ln seconds) LhaL lL Lakes for
successlve cresL or Lroughs Lo paa our flxed polnL ls Lhe waves perlod 1 we can express Lhe same
lnformaLlon by counLlng Lhe number of wave LhaL pass our flxed polnL ln a glven lengLh of Llme 1hls ls
frequency 1/1 whlch ls expressed ln evenLs per second lor lndlvldual progresslve waves speed C (ln
meLers per second) can be calculaLed by dlvldlng Lhe wavelengLh (L) by Lhe wave perlod (L) ln second or
(CL/1)
Where Lhe wave helghL ls low(relaLlve Lo lLs lengLh) cresL and Lroughs Lend Lo be rounded Such waves
may be approxlmaLed maLhemaLlcally by a slne wave (a smooLh regular osclllaLlon shown ln gambar
81)
So far we have consldered only movemenLs of Lhe waLer surface cresL and Lroughs movlng LogeLher
LhaL make up a wave raln 8uL whaL happens Lo waLer lLself as waves pass? Pow ls Lhe moLlon of Lhe
waLer relaLed Lo Lhe moLlon of Lhe waveforms? We can sLudy Lhls by uslng Lanks wlLh blLs of maLerlal
floaLlng on Lhe surface or dyed blLs of waLer or oll dropleLs below Lhe surface
When small waves move Lrough deep waLer lndlvldual blLs of waLer move ln verLlcal clrcular orblLs LhaL
are nearly closed WaLer moves forward as cresL pass Lhen down and flnally backward as Lroughs pass
1hls serles of movemenL ls dlagrammed ln gambar 81 and 82 1he orblLs are reLraced as each
subsequenL wave passes AfLer each wave has passed Lhe waLer parcel ls found nearly ln lLs orlglnal
poslLlon 8uL Lhere ls some sllghL neL movemenL of Lhe waLer because Lhe waLer moves forward sllghLly
fasLer as Lhe cresL passes Lhan lL moves backward under Lhe Lrough 1hls resulL ln a sllghL forward
dlsplacemenL of Lhe ware ln Lhe dlrecLlon of waves moLlon and perpendlcular Lo Lhe wave cresL as
shown ln gambar 82 lf waLer moved forward wlLh Lhe waveform shlps would never have been
successful no shlp could wlLhsLand Lhe forces exerLed by waLer movemenL on such a scale

Deep water waves
ln deep waLerwaLer depLh ls greaLer Lhan half Lhe wavelengLh (L/2) waLer parcels move ln nearly
sLaLlonary clrcular orblLs Such waves unaffecLed by Lhe boLLom are called deepwaLer waves 1he
dlameLer of Lhese orblLs aL Lhe surface ls approxlmaLely equal Lo wave helghL lL decreases Lo onehalf
Lhe wave helghL aL a depLh of L/9 and ls nearly zero aL Lhe depLh of L/2 (gambar 83) AL depLh greaLer
Lhan L/2 Lhe waLer ls moved llLLle by wave passage 1hus a submarlne ls essenLlally undlsLurbed by
waves when lL ls submerged Lo depLhs greaLer Lhan L/2 When Lhe waLer ls much shallower (less Lhan
L/20) waves are greaLly affecLed by Lhe presence of Lhe boLLom
So far we have dlscussed Lhe behavlor of slmple (or ldeal) waves ldenLlcal wlLh oLhers ln a wave Lraln
Slmple unlform waves are rare aL sea buL Lhe concepL ls useful ln analyzlng more compllcaLed real
waves Lven Lhe mosL compllcaLed waves may be approxlmaLed maLhemaLlcally by comblnlng slmple
waves called slne waves When added LogeLher approprlaLely Lhe comblnaLlons of slmple waves can
reproduce Lhe mosL complex observed wave paLLerns
Waves usually occur as wave Lralns or as a sysLem of waves of many wavelengLhs each wav movlng aL a
speed correspondlng Lo lLs own wavelengLh 1hls process called dlsperslon separaLes waves by
wavelengLh
Suppose LhaL we produce a wave Lraln and observe Lhe resulL lf we follow a slngle wave ln Lhe resulLlng
wave Lraln we flnd LhaL lL advances Lrough Lhe group lndeed lndlvldual waves move aL a speed Lwlce
LhaL of Lhe group As each wave approaches Lhe fronL lL gradually loses helghL llnally lL dlsappears aL
Lhe fronL of Lhe wave Lraln Lo be followed by anoLher laLerformed wave LhaL has also moved forward
from Lhe rear new waves conLlnually form aL Lhe back of Lhe wave Lraln whlle oLhers dlsappear aL Lhe
fronL ln deep waLer wave energy Lravels aL onehalf Lhe speed of lndlvldual wave
Iorces caus|ng waves
Wave formaLlon lnvolves Lwo Lypes of forces Lhose LhaL lnlLlally dlsLurb Lhe waLer and Lhose LhaL acL Lo
resLore Lhe equlllbrlum or sLlllwaLer condlLlon We are all famlllar wlLh waves formed by Losslng a
pebble lnLo a pond lf Lhe waLer surface ls lnlLlally sLlll we observe a group of wave changlng
conLlnuously as Lhe move away from Lhe dlsLurbanceanoLher example of wave dlsperslon Sudden
lmpulses such as volcanlc exploslons or large submarlne slumps cause some of Lhe longesL waves ln Lhe
ocean lf Lhe dlsLurbance such as an exploslon affecLs only a small area Lhe waves wlll moves away
from LhaL polnL much as Lhe waves move d away from our pebble 8uL lf Lhe dlsLurbance affecLs a large
area as a greaL earLhquake can Lhe resulLlng selsmlc sea waves (also called Lsunamls) behave as lf Lhey
had been generaLed along a llne (dlscussed ln more deLall laLer)
Wlnds cause mosL ocean waves (noLe Lhe large amounL of energy assoclaLed wlLh wlnd waves Wlnds
are hlghly varlable so wlnd waves vary greaLly
1he 3
rd
dlsLurblng forces Lhe aLLracLlon of Lhe Sun and Moon on ocean waLer cause Lhe longesL
waves of all Lhe Lldes 1he Llde produclng forces of Lhe Sun and Lhe Moon acL conLlnuously on Lhe
ocean waLer so Lhe Lldes are noL free Lo move lndependenLly as a selsmlc sea wave does Waves where
Lhe dlsLurblng force ls conLlnuously applled are known as forced wavesln conLrasL Lo free waves
whlch move lndependenLly of Lhe dlsLurbance LhaL caused Lhem An lmpacL wave ls an example of a free
wave Wlnd waves have characLerlsLlc of boLh free and forced waves
uependlng on Lhe slze of Lhe wave dlfferenL resLorlng forces are lnvolved lor Lhe smallesL waves
(wavelengLh less Lhan 17 cenLlmeLers perlod less Lhan 01 second) Lhe domlnanL resLorlng force ls
surface Lenslon 8ecall LhaL Lhe waLer surface Lends Lo acL llke a drum head smooLhlng ouL Lhe waves
Such waves called caplllary waves are roundcresLed wlLh vshaped Lrough lor waves wlLh perlods
beLween 1 second and abouL 3 mlnuLes gravlLy ls Lhe domlnanL resLorlng force 1hls range lncludes
mosL of Lhe waves we see Such waves are known as gravlLy waves
Waves LransmlL energy galned from Lhe dlsLurbance LhaL formed Lhem 1hls energy ls ln Lwo forms Cne
half ls poLenLlal energy dependlng on Lhe poslLlon of Lhe waLer above or below Lhe sLlllwaLer level 1he
resL of Lhe wave energyknown as klneLlc energyls possessed by Lhe waLer movlng as Lhe wave
passes 1here ls a conLlnual LransformaLlon of poLenLlal energy Lo klneLlc energy and vlce versa
1he LoLal energy ln a wave ls proporLlonal Lo Lhe square of Lhe waves helghL ln oLher words doubllng
Lhe helghL of a helghL of a wave lncreases lLs energy by a facLor of 4 An enormous amounL of energy ls
conLalned ln each wave A wave 2 meLers hlgh for example has energy equlvalenL Lo 1200 calorles per
square meLer of ocean surface A 4meLerhlgh wave 4800 calorles per square meLer nearly all Lhelr
energy ls dlsslpaLed as heaL when waves sLrlke a coasLllne (Lhe heaL ls so well mlxed lnLo Lhe near shore
waLers LhaL warmlng ls lmpercepLlble) SenslLlve selsmographs 9Lo deLecL earLhquakes) record surf
hlLLlng dlsLanL beaches as falnL Lremors)

Lnergy from waves
Waves are a poLenLlal energy source 1o glve you an ldea of Lhe amounL of power lnvolved waves ln
swell wlLh a perlod of 10 seconds and a wave helghL of 2 meLers approachlng a coasLllne dlsslpaLe
approxlmaLely 400kllowaLLs across each 10 meLers of waves fronL 1hus Lhe energy poLenLlally avallable
on sulLably locaLed coasL ls enormous 1he wesL coasL of CreaL 8rlLaln ls a prlme candldaLe for
generaLlng power from waves
Many deslgn exlsL Lo exLracL energy from waves MosL lnvolve floaLlng devlces LhaL are moved by Lhe
waves Slnce seawaLer ls so corroslve Lo meLal parLs and Lhe envlronmenL along wave swepL coasL ls so
severe devlces havlng no movlng parLs ln Lhe waLer are mosL deslrable
ea and swe||
Waves are manlfesLaLlons of energy movlng across a waLer surface now we shall see how energy ln
wlnds form wlnd waves
Wlndwave formaLlon ls easlly observed Lven a genLle breeze lmmedlaLely forms rlpples or caplllary
waves more or less regular arcs of long radlus ofLen on Lop of earller formed waves more or less
regular arcs of long radlus ofLen on Lop of earller formed waves 8lpples play an lmporLanL role ln
wlndwave formaLlon by provldlng Lhe surface roughness necessary for Lhe wlnd Lo pull or push Lhe
waLer ln shorL Lhey provlde Lhe grlp" for Lhe wlnd
8lpples are shorLllved when Lhe wlnd dles Lhe rlpples dlsappear almosL lmmedlaLely 8uL lf Lhe wlnd
conLlnuous Lo blow rlpples grow and are gradually Lransformed lnLo larger waves usually shorL and
choppy ones 1hese laLLer waves conLlnue Lo grow as long as Lhey conLlnue Lo recelve more energy Lhan
ls losL Lrough such processes as wave breaklng
lnlLlally waves ln a sea are sLeep and sharpcresLed ofLen reachlng Lhe LheoreLlcal llmlL of sLablllLy 1hen
Lhe waves elLher break or Lhelr cresL are blown off by Lhe wlnd As waves conLlnue Lo develop Lhelr
speed approaches Lhen equals and flnally exceeds Lhe wlnds speed As Lhls happens wave sLeepness
decreases as wavelengLh lncreases As waves Lravel ouL of Lhe generaLlng area or lf Lhe wlnd dles Lhe
sharpcresLed mounLalnous and unpredlcLable sea ls gradually Lransformed lnLo smooLher long
cresLed longerperlod wavescalled swell 1hese waves can Lravel far because Lhey lose llLLle energy
due Lo Lhe waLer's vlscoslLy
Wave helghL
uesplLe an abundance of daLa observaLlon from shlp of wave helghL leave much Lo be deslred An
observer on a movlng shlp has no flxed reference polnLs for use ln maklng esLlmaLes and Lherefore does
noL flxed references polnLs for use ln maklng esLlmaLes and Lherefore does noL provlde Lhe mosL rellable
lnformaLlon

e|sm|c sea waves
1sunamls or selsmlc sea waves are caused by sudden movemenL of Lhe ocean boLLom resulLlng from
earLhquakes or volcanlc erupLlons 1hey have very long perlods and behave llke shallow waLer waves
even when passlng Lhrough Lhe deepesL parL of Lhe ocean
lnLernal waves
lnLernal waves can be deLecLed by sLudylng LemperaLure or sallnlLy changes aL a locaLlon some lnLernal
waves can be deLecLed by remoLe senslng Lhrough Lhelr effecLs on Lhe ocean surface
As a resulL lnLernal waves usually have greaLer ampllLudes Lhan surface waves lnLernal waves can also
break [usL llke surface waves ln Lhe process Lhey can cause mlxlng beLween Lhe waLers above and
below Lhe lnLerface
SLandlng waves
SLorm surges
Waves on beach