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Chief Mates.Notes prepared by Capt. Francis T.

Gauci
2009

June

Oceanography: waves
theory and principles of waves, how they work and what causes them

When the wind blows across the water, it changes the water's surface,
first into ripples and then into waves. Once the surface becomes uneven,
the wind has an ever increasing grip on it. Storms can make enormous
waves, particularly if the wind, blows in the same direction for any length
of time. In this chapter, you can learn what waves are and how they
behave. Learn to understand the principles behind all surface waves.

1.Waves in the environment


Without waves, the world would be a different place. Waves cannot exist by themselves for they
are caused by winds. Winds in turn are caused by differences in temperature on the planet,
mainly between the hot tropics and the cold poles but also due to temperature fluctuations of
continents relative to the sea.
Without waves, the winds would have only a very small grip on the water and would not be able
to move it as much. The waves allow the wind to transfer its energy to the water's surface and to
make it move. At the surface, waves promote the exchange of gases: carbon dioxide into the
oceans and oxygen out. Currents and eddies mix the layers of water which would otherwise
become stagnant and less conducive to life. Nutrients are thus circulated and re-used.
The large ocean currents transport warm water from the tropics to the poles and cold water the
other way. They help to stabilise the planet's temperature and to minimise its extremes. For
instance, because of warm ocean currents arriving from the north, the temperature of New
Zealand is 3-4 degrees higher than it would be without them.
For the creatures in the sea, ocean currents allow their larvae to be dispersed and to be carried
great distances. Many creatures spawn only during storms when large waves can mix their
gametes effectively.
Coastal creatures living in shallow water experience the brunt of the waves directly. In order to
survive there, they need to be robust and adaptable. Thus waves maintain a gradient of
biodiversity all the way from the surface, down to depths of 30m or more. Without waves, there
would not be as many species living in the sea.
Waves pound rocks and make them erode faster, but sea organisms covering these rocks, delay
this process. Waves make beaches by transporting sand from deeper down towards the shore and
by washing the sand and removing fine particles. Waves stir and suspend the sand so that
currents or gravity can transport it.

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Chief Mates.SEA WAVES

Chief Mates.Notes prepared by Capt. Francis T. Gauci


2009

June

2.Wave motion
Anyone having watched water waves rippling outward from the point where a stone was thrown
in, should have noticed how effortlessly waves can propagate along the water's surface.
Wherever we see water, we see its surface stirred by waves. Indeed, witnessing a lake or sea flat
like a mirror, is rather unusual. Yet, as familiar we are with waves, we are unfamiliar with how
water particles can join forces to make such waves.
Waves are oscillations in the water's surface. For oscillations to exist and to propagate, like the
vibrating of a guitar string or the standing waves in a flute, there must be a returning force that
brings equilibrium. The tension in a string and the pressure of the air are such forces. Without
these, neither the string nor the flute could produce tones. The standing waves in musical
instruments bounce their energy back and forth inside the string or the flute's cavity. The
oscillations that are passed to the air are different in that they travel in widening spheres outward.
These travelling waves have a direction and speed in addition to their tone or timbre. In air their
returning force is the compression of the air molecules. In surface waves, the returning force is
gravity, the pull of the Earth. Hence the name 'gravity waves' for water waves.
In solids, the molecules are tightly connected together, which prevents them from moving freely,
but they can vibrate. Water is a liquid and its molecules are allowed to move freely although they
are placed closely together. In gases, the molecules are surrounded by vast expanses of vacuum
space, which allows them to move freely and at high speed. In all these media, waves are
propagated by compression of the medium. However, the surface waves between two media
(water and air), behave very different and solely under the influence of gravity, which is much
weaker than that of elastic compression, the method by which sound propagates.

The specific volume of sea water changes by only about 4 thousands of 1 percent (4E-5) under a pressure
change of one atmosphere (1 kg/cm2). This may seem insignificant, but the Pacific Ocean would stand
about 50m higher, except for compression of the water by virtue of its own weight, or about 22cm higher
in the absence of the atmosphere. Since an atmosphere is about equal to a column of water 10m high, the
force of gravity is about 43 times weaker than that of elastic compression.
Surface tension (which forms droplets) exerts a stress parallel to the surface, equivalent to only one 74
millionth (1.4E-8) of an atmosphere. Its restoring force depends on the curvature of the surface and is
still smaller. Nevertheless it dominates the behaviour of small ripples (capillary waves), whose presence
greatly contributes to the roughness (aerodynamic drag) of the sea surface, and hence, to the efficiency
with which can generate larger waves and currents. (Van Dorn, 1974)

If each water particle makes small oscillations around its spot, relative to its neighbours, waves
can form if all water particles move at the same time and in directions that add up to the wave's
shape and direction. Because water has a vast number of molecules, the height of waves is
theoretically unlimited. In practice, surface waves can be sustained as high as 70% of the water's
depth or some 3000m in a 4000m deep sea (Van Dorn, 1974).
Note that the water particles do not travel but only their collective energy does! Waves that travel
far and fast, undulate slowly, requiring the water particles to make slow oscillations, which
reduces friction and loss of energy.

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Chief Mates.SEA WAVES

Chief Mates.Notes prepared by Capt. Francis T. Gauci


2009

June

In the diagram some familiar


terms are shown. A floating object
is observed to move in perfect
circles when waves oscillate
harmoniously sinus-like in deep
water. If that object hovered in the
water, like a water particle, it
would be moving along
diminishing circles, when placed
deeper in the water. At a certain
depth, the object would stand still.
This is the wave's base, precisely
half the wave's length. Thus long
waves (ocean swell) extend much
deeper down than short waves
(chop). Waves with 100 metres between crests are common and could just stir the bottom down
to a depth of 50m. Note that the depth of a wave has little to do with its height! But a wave's
height contains the wave's energy, which is unrelated to the wave's length. Long surface waves
travel faster and further than short ones. Note also that the forward movement of the water under
a crest in shallow water is faster than the backward movement under its trough. By this
difference, sand is swept forward towards the beach.
Water waves can store or dissipate much energy. Like other waves (alternating electric currents,
e.g.), a wave's energy is proportional to the square of its height (potential). Thus a 3m high wave
has 3x3=9 times more energy than a 1m high wave. When fine-weather waves of about 1m
height pound on the beach, they dissipate an average of 10kW (ten one-bar heaters) per metre of
beach or the power of a small car at full throttle, every five metres. (Ref Douglas L Inman in
Oceanography, the last frontier, 1974). Attempts to harness the energy from waves have failed
because they require large structures over large areas and these structures should be capable of
surviving storm conditions with energies hundreds of times larger than they were designed to
capture.
Waves have a direction and speed. Sound waves propagate by compressing the medium. They
can travel in water about 4.5 times faster than in air, about 1500m per second (5400km/s, or
mach-4.5, depending on temperature and salinity). Such waves can travel in all directions and
reach the bottom of the ocean (about 4km) in less than a second. Surface waves, however, are
limited by the density of water and the pull of gravity. They can travel only along the surface and
their wave lengths can at most be about twice the average depth of the ocean (2 x 4 km). The
fastest surface waves observed, are those caused by tsunamis. The 'tidal wave' caused by an
under-sea earthquake in Chile in May 1960, covered the 6000 nautical miles (11,000km) to New
Zealand in about 12 hours, travelling at a speed of about 900 km/hr! When it arrived, it caused
an oscillation in water level of 0.6m at various places along the coast, 1.4m in Tauranga Harbour
and 2.4m in Whitianga harbour. Note that tsunamis reach their minimum at about 6000 km
distance. Beyond that, the curvature of the Earth bends the wave fronts to focus them again at a
distance of about 12,000 km, where they can still cause considerable damage.

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Chief Mates.Notes prepared by Capt. Francis T. Gauci


2009

June

The relationship between wave speed (phase velocity) and depth of long surface waves in shallow water
is given by the formula
c x c = g x d x (p2 - p1) / p2 or
c x c= g x d for water/air
where c= wave speed, g= acceleration of gravity (9.8066 m/s/s), d= wave depth (or upper layer depth,
m), p2= density of water (=1) and p1= density of air (= 0.00125).
The formula states that wave speed increases with wave depth and the relative difference in density.
For an ocean depth of 4000m, a wave's celerity or speed would be about SQR(10 x 4000) = 200 m/s =
720 km/hr. Surface waves could theoretically travel much faster on larger planets, in media denser than
water.

For deep water, the relationship between speed and wavelength is given by the formula:
l = g x t x t / (2 x pi)
l = t x c for all kinds of waves, substitute in above equation: t x c = g x t x t / (2 x pi)
c = g x t / (2 x pi) or t = c x 2 x pi / g or t = c x 0.641 (s)
where t= wave period (sec), f= wave frequency, l= wave length (m) and pi=3.1415...
to calculate c and l from wave period t (in sec): c = t x 1.56 m/s= t x 5.62 km/hr = t x 3.0 knot
l = 1.56 x t x t (metres)
Thus waves with a period of 10 seconds, travel at 56 km/hr with a wave length of about 156m. A 60 knot
(110 km/hr) gale can produce in 24 hours waves with periods of 17 seconds and wave lengths of 450m.
Such waves travel close to the wind's speed (97 km/hr). A tsunami travelling at 200 m/s has a wave
period of 128 s, and a wave length of 25,600 m.
These two diagrams show the
relationships between wave
speed and period for various
depths (left), and wave length
and period (right), for
periodic, progressive surface
waves. (Adapted from Van
Dorn, 1974) Note that the
term phase velocity is more
precise than wave speed.
The period of waves is easy to
measure using a stopwatch,
whereas wave length and
speed are not. In the left
picture, the red line gives the
linear relationship between
wave speed and wave period.
A 12 second swell in deep
water travels at about 20m/s or 72
km/hr. From the red line in the
right diagram, we can see that such
swell has a wave length between
crests of about 250m.
When the 12s swell enters 10m
shallow water (follow the green
curve for 10m), its speed will halve
to 10m/s (left graph) and so will its
wave length (right graph). But the
height of the wave increases by a
similar factor (not shown here).

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Chief Mates.SEA WAVES

Chief Mates.Notes prepared by Capt. Francis T. Gauci


2009

June

3.Waves and wind


How wind causes water to form
waves is easy to understand
although many intricate details
still lack a satisfactory theory. On
a perfectly calm sea, the wind has
practically no grip. As it slides
over the water surface film, it
makes it move. As the water
moves, it forms eddies and small
ripples. Ironically, these ripples do
not travel exactly in the direction
of the wind but as two sets of
parallel ripples, at angles 70-80 to
the wind direction. The ripples
make the water's surface rough,
giving the wind a better grip. The
ripples, starting at a minimum wave speed of 0.23 m/s, grow to wavelets and start to travel in the
direction of the wind. At wind speeds of 4-6 knots (7-11 km/hr), these double wave fronts travel
at about 30 from the wind. The surface still looks glassy overall but as the wind speed increases,
the wavelets become high enough to interact with the air flow and the surface starts to look
rough. The wind becomes turbulent just above the surface and starts transferring energy to the
waves. Strong winds are more turbulent and make waves more easily.
The rougher the water becomes, the easier it is for the wind to transfer its energy. The waves
become steep and choppy. Further away from the shore, the water's surface is not only stirred by
the wind but also by waves arriving with the wind. These waves influence the motion of the
water particles such that opposing movements gradually cancel out, whereas synchronising
movements are enhanced. The waves start to become more rounded and harmonious. Depending
on duration and distance (fetch), the waves develop into a fully developed sea.
Anyone familiar with the sea, knows that waves never assume a uniform, harmonious shape.
Even when the wind has blown strictly from one direction only, the resulting water movement is
made up of various waves, each with a different speed and height. Although some waves are
small, most waves have a certain height and sometimes a wave occurs which is much higher.

When trying to be more


precise about waves,
difficulties arise: how do we
measure waves objectively?
When is a wave a wave and
should be counted? Scientists

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Chief Mates.Notes prepared by Capt. Francis T. Gauci


2009

June

do this by introducing a value E which is derived from the energy component of the compound wave. In
the left part of the drawing is shown how the value E is derived entirely mathematically from the shape
of the wave. Instruments can also measure it precisely and objectively. The wave height is now
proportional to the square root of E.
The sea state E is two times the average of the sum of the squared amplitudes of all wave samples.
The right part of the diagram illustrates the probability of waves exceeding a certain height. The vertical
axis gives height relative to the square root of the average energy state of the sea: h / SQR( E ) . For
understanding the graph, one can take the average wave height at 50% probability as reference.
Fifty percent of all waves exceed the average wave height, and an equal number are smaller. The highest
one-tenth of all waves are twice as high as the average wave height (and four times more powerful).
Towards the left, the probability curve keeps rising off the scale: one in 5000 waves is three times higher
and so on. The significant wave height H3 is twice the most probable height and occurs about 15% or
once in seven waves, hence the saying "Every seventh wave is highest". Click here for a larger version of
this diagram.
When the wind blows
sufficiently long from the
same direction, the waves it
creates, reach maximum size,
speed and period beyond a
certain distance (fetch) from
the shore. This is called a
fully developed sea. Because
the waves travel at speeds
close to that of the wind, the
wind is no longer able to
transfer energy to them and
the sea state has reached its
maximum. In the picture the
wave spectra of three different
fully developed seas are
shown. The bell curve for a 20
knot wind (green) is flat and
low and has many high frequency components (wave periods 1-10 seconds). As the wind speed
increases, the wave spectrum grows rapidly while also expanding to the low frequencies (to the right).
Note how the bell curve rapidly cuts off for long wave periods, to the right. Compare the size of the red
bell, produced by 40 knot winds, with that of the green bell, produced by winds of half that speed. The
energy in the red bell is 16 times larger!
Important to remember is that the energy of the sea (maximum sea condition) increases very
rapidly with wind speed, proportional to its fourth power. The amplitude of the waves increases to
the third power of wind speed. This property makes storms so unexpectedly destructive.

The biggest waves on the planet


are found where strong winds
consistently blow in a constant
direction. Such a place is found
south of the Indian Ocean, at
latitudes of -40 to -60, as shown
by the yellow and red colours on
this satellite map. Waves here
average 7m, with the occasional
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Chief Mates.Notes prepared by Capt. Francis T. Gauci


2009

June

waves twice that height! Directly south of New Zealand, wave heights exceeding 5m are also
normal. The lowest waves occur where wind speeds are lowest, around the equator, particularly
where the wind's fetch is limited by islands, indicated by the pink colour on this map. However,
in these places, the sea water warms up, causing the birth of tropical cyclones, typhoons or
hurricanes, which may send large waves in all directions, particularly in the direction they are
travelling.

4.Waves entering shallow water


As waves enter shallow water,
they slow down, grow taller and
change shape. At a depth of half
its wave length, the rounded
waves start to rise and their crests
become shorter while their troughs
lengthen. Although their period
(frequency) stays the same, the
waves slow down and their overall
wave length shortens. The 'bumps'
gradually steepen and finally
break in the surf when depth
becomes less than 1.3 times their
height. Note that waves change
shape in depths depending on their
wave length, but break in shallows relating to their height!
How high a wave will rise, depends on its wave length (period) and the beach slope. It has been
observed that a swell of 6-7m height in open sea, with a period of 21 seconds, rose to 16m height
off Manihiki Atoll, Cooks Islands, on 2 June, 1967. Such swell could have arisen from a 60 knot
storm.
The photo shows waves entering shallow
water at Piha, New Zealand. Notice how the
wave crests rise from an almost invisible swell
in the far distance. As they enter shallow
water, they also change shape and are no
longer sinus-like. Although their period remain
the same, their distance between crests and
their speed, diminish.
Not quite visible on this scale are the many

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Chief Mates.Notes prepared by Capt. Francis T. Gauci


2009

June

surfies in the water near the centre of the


picture. They favour this spot because as the
waves bend around the rocks, and gradually
break in a 'peeling' motion, they can ride them
almost all the way back to the beach.

Going back to the 'wave motion and depth' diagram showing how water particles move, we can
see that all particles make a circular movement in the same direction. They move up on the
wave's leading edge, forward on its crest, down on its trailing slope and backward on its trough.
In shallow water, the particles close to the bottom will be restricted in their up and downward
movements and move along the bottom instead. As the diagram shows, the particle's amplitude
of movement does not decrease with depth. The forward/backward movement over the sand
creates ripples and disturbs it.
Since shallow long waves have short crests and long troughs, the sand's forward movement is
much more brisk than its backward movement, resulting in sand being dragged towards the
shore. This is important for sandy beaches.

Note that a sandy bottom is just another medium, potentially capable of guiding gravity waves. It is about
1.8 times denser than water and contains about 30-40% liquid. Yet, neither does it behave like a liquid,
nor entirely like a solid. It resists downward and sideways movements but upward movements not as
much. So waves cannot propagate over the sand's surface, like they do along the water's surface, but
divers can observe the sand 'jumping up' on the leading edge of a wave crest passing overhead (when the
water particles move upward). This may help explain why sand is so easily stirred up by waves and why
burrowing organisms are washed up so readily.

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Chief Mates.Notes prepared by Capt. Francis T. Gauci


2009

June

Surf breakers are classified in three types:

Spilling breakers: result from waves of low steepness (long period swell) over gentle
slopes. They cause rows of breakers, rolling towards the beach. Such breakers gradually
transport water towards the beach during groups of high waves. Rips running back to sea,
transport this water away from the beach during groups of low waves. When caught
swimming in a rip, do not attempt to swim back to shore because such rips can be very
strong (up to 8 km/hr). Swim parallel to the beach towards where the waves are highest.
This is where water moves towards the beach. The next group of tall waves should assist
you to swim back to shore. However, when launching (rescue) boats, this is best done in a
rip zone.
Plunging breakers: result from steeper waves over moderate slopes. The slope of a
beach is not constant but may change with the tide. Some beaches are steep toward high
tide, others toward low tide. A plunging breaker is dangerous for swimmers because its
intensity is greatly augmented by backwash from its predecessor. This strong backwash
precludes easy exit from the breaker zone, particularly for divers. Often a steep bank of
loose sand prevents one from standing upright. In order to exit safely, wait for a group of
low waves.
Surging breakers: occur where the beach slope exceeds wave steepness. The wave does
not really curl and break but runs up against the shore while producing foam and large
surges of water. Such places are dangerous for swimmers because the rapidly moving
water can drag swimmers over the rocks.

Spilling breakers are a familiar sight


on most beaches. They arise from
long waves breaking on gently
sloping beaches. There are several

Plunging breakers can occur on


Surging breakers surge over steeply
steeply sloping beaches. There is only sloping (but not vertical) beaches or
one row of breakers.
rocks. Waves break one at a time.
Photos Van Dorn, 1974

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Chief Mates.Notes prepared by Capt. Francis T. Gauci


2009

June

rows of breakers.

When waves break, their energy is absorbed and converted to heat. The gentler the slope of the
beach, the more energy is converted. Steep slopes such as rocky shores do not break waves as
much but reflect them back to sea, which 'shelters' marine life..

5.Wave groups
Part of the irregularity of waves
can be explained by treating them
as formed by interference between
two or more wave trains of
different periods, moving in the
same direction. It explains why
waves often occur in groups. The
diagram shows how two wave
trains (dots and thin line) interfere,
producing a wave group of larger
amplitude (thick line). Such a
wave group moves at half the
average speed of its component
waves. The wave's energy
spectrum, discussed earlier, does
not move at the speed of the
waves but at the group speed.
When distant storms send long
waves out over great distances,
they arrive at a time that
corresponds with the group speed,
not the wave speed. Thus a group
of waves, with a period of 14s
would travel at a group velocity of
11m/s (not 22 m/s) and take about
24 hours (not 12 hr) to reach the
shore from a cyclone 1000 km distant. A group of waves with half the period (7s) would take
twice as long, and would arrive a day later. (Harris, 1985)
Most wave systems at sea are comprised of not just two, but many component wave trains,
having generally different amplitudes as well as periods. This does not alter the group concept,
but has the effect of making the groups (and the waves within them) more irregular.
Anyone having observed waves arriving at a beach will have noticed that they are loosely
grouped in periods of high waves, alternated by periods of low waves.
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Chief Mates.Notes prepared by Capt. Francis T. Gauci


2009

June

Adapted from Van Dorn, 1974.

6.Wave reflection
Like sound waves, surface waves can be bent (refracted) or bounced back (reflected) by solid
objects. Waves do not propagate in a strict line but tend to spread outward while becoming
smaller. Where a wave front is large, such spreading cancels out and the parallel wave fronts are
seen travelling in the same direction. Where a lee shore exists, such as inside a harbour or behind
an island, waves can be seen to bend towards where no waves are. In the lee of islands, waves
can create an area where they interfere, causing steep and hazardous seas.
When approaching a gently sloping shore, waves are slowed down and bent towards the shore.
When approaching a steep rocky shore, waves are bounced back, creating a 'confused sea' of
interfering waves with twice the height and steepness. Such places may become hazardous to
shipping in otherwise acceptable sea conditions.

When wave fronts approach a gently sloping beach on


an angle, they slow down in the shallows, causing them
to bend towards the beach. If the beach slopes gently
enough, all breakers will eventually line up parallel to
the beach.

When a beach is steep, the wave fronts get bent and then
reflected back. Sometimes part of the energy is absorbed
and the remaining energy reflected.

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Chief Mates.Notes prepared by Capt. Francis T. Gauci


2009

June

This drawing shows how waves are bent


around an island which should be at least 2-3
wave lengths wide in order to offer some
shelter. It causes immediately in the lee of the
island (A) a wave shadow zone but further out
to sea a confusing sea (B) of interfering but
weakened waves which at some point (C)
focuses the almost full wave energy from two
directions, resulting in unpredictable and
dangerous seas. When seeking shelter, avoid
navigating through this area.
Recent research has shown that underwater
sand banks can act as wave lenses, refracting
the waves and focussing them some distance
farther. It may suddenly accelerate coastal
erosion in localised places along the coast.
Drawings from Van Dorn, 1974.

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