Oceanography: Ocean Waves

Oceanography: Ocean Waves

Read on to know more about the ocean waves, how they form and the tsunamis...

The ocean waves occur at the upper layer of an ocean and a result of wind and geologic effects. The wave may travel more than a thousand miles before it strikes the land. The size of the wave can vary from a small ripple to a large tsunami. Although a large amount of energy and momentum is present in a wave, there is very little forward motion of the individual water particles of the wave.

Wave Formation

The three main factors that cause waves in the ocean are:

· the speed of the wind

· the distance of the water over which the wind has blown

· the duration of time the wind has blown over the surface of the water.

The greater each of the above factors is the larger will be the waves. A wave is measured by its height that is from the trough to the crest, the wavelength of the wave that is the distance from one crest to the next or the period of a wave that is the time taken between two consecutive waves from a fixed point.

Types of Waves

The three different types of waves that can develop over the ocean are as follows:

Ripples: are also known as capillary waves and appear on smooth waters. These waves die out when the wind stops blowing but these can move forward if ample surface tension is present.

Seas: are larger waves that are formed under irregular and un-sustained winds. These can last long after the winds have died out.

Swells: are formed when seas move away from their point of origin, separating naturally as per direction and wavelength.

Tsunami

A tsunami (pronounced sue-nahm-ee) is defined as a series of huge waves that can cause major devastation and loss of life when they hit the coast. The word tsunami is a Japanese word which means 'harbor waves' (tsu - harbor, nami - waves). The possible causes of a tsunami are an underwater earthquake with the Richter scale magnitude of over 6.75, sub marine rock slides, volcanic eruptions or if an asteroid or a meteoroid crashes into the water from the space. A tsunami starts when a huge volume of water is shifted by any of the phenomenon mentioned. When such a large volume of water is moved, the resulting wave is very large and can be spread over an area of a hundred miles. This wave can travel from the point of origin to the coast at great speed. A tsunami has been known to travel with speeds as high as 600 mph in the open ocean. This is the speed with which a jet travels and a tsunami can move from one end of the ocean to the other end in a few hours!

With the advance in technologies over the years, tsunamis can now be detected before they hit the coast thereby reducing loss of life. Fortunately, tsunamis are very rare with approximately six of them hitting the coast every century, most of them occurring in the Pacific Ocean.

Ocean Waves and Global Warming

Another phenomenon that has been affecting the speed of the waves in the recent years is global warming. Geophysicists have predicted that as the surface of the ocean warms up, the speed with which the planetary waves travel should increase. It is believed that the speed of the waves have already increased considerably but this has not been noticed and documented so far the satellites that have been monitoring the speed of the waves have not been around for too long. As per the latest research, the speed of the waves will further increase by nearly 30% by the end of the 21st century.

Personally, I love the ocean. I feel that the ocean and the waves are one of the best gifts that the nature has blessed us with. But the waves of the ocean have caused a lot of devastation to life and we must be alert for all warnings and stay away from the oceans when asked to. Further, staying away from the oceans during high tide is a good idea again as the waves can be high and the depth of the ocean at locations that you thought are safe can be dangerous.

I hope that you have enjoyed reading this article and have found the information useful. Happy reading!

Дата добавления: 2015-11-04