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Oceanography Ch 08
The Waves
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| generating force | disturbing force that creates a wave, such as wind or a landslide entering water. |
| restoring force | force that returns a disturbed water surface to the equilibrium level, such as surface tension and gravity. |
| crest | top of a wave |
| trough | bottom of a wave |
| wavelength | horizontal distance between two successive wave crests or two successive wave troughs. |
| wave height | vertical distance from the bottom of a trough to the top of a crest |
| amplitude | half a wave height |
| orbit | in water waves, the path followed by the water particles affected by the wave motion |
| dispersion/sorting | sorting of waves as they move out from a storm center; occurs because long-period waves travel faster in deep water than short-period waves. |
| wave train | groups of faster waves |
| Constructive interference | crests and troughs of one wave coincide with another group of crests and troughs producing reinforced, bigger waves... |
| Destructive interference | crests and troughs of one wave that do not coincide with another group of crests and troughs producing reduced or cancelled waves |
| fetch | continuous area of water over which the wind blows in essentially a constant direction. |
| episodic wave | abnormally high wave unrelated to local storm conditions |
| wave steepness | ratio of wave height to wavelength |
| shallow water wave | wave in water which the depth is less than one-twentieth the average wavelength |
| diffraction | process that transmits energy laterally along a wave crest. |
| refraction | change in direction, or bending, of a wave. |
| rip current | strong surface current flowing seaward from shore; the return movement of water piled up on the shore by incoming waves and wind. |
| seismic sea wave | tsunami |
| tsunami | long-period sea wave produced by a submarine earthquake, volcanic eruption, sediment slide, or seafloor faulting, may travel across the ocean for thousands of km from its point of origin and build up to great heights over shallow water at the shore. |
| seiche | standing wave oscillation of an enclosed or semienclosed body of water that continues, pendulum fashion, after the generating force ceases. |
| L/2 (wave base) | depth at which no wave motion occurs due to minimum orbit size…1/2 the wavelength of a wave |
Created by:
Permian
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