Breaking+Waves

Breaking Waves: Its definition and types

Topic: In physics, a breaking wave is a wave whose amplitude reaches a critical level at which some process can suddenly start to occur that causes large amounts of wave energy to be dissipated. As you've known before(or maybe not), waves are the most familiar features of the ocean. All waves work similarly, they all simply transfer energy across a certain medium, or in this case, the ocean. Waves travel across the water, not the water traveling with the waves. Also, most waves are powered by wind. And they all "break" when they reach a certain type of shore. This happens when the wave gets dragged at the bottom, also known as "feel-bottom". And as they slow down because of friction, their wavelength becomes short, and their height gets higher. And as this happens, the orbital speed gets ahead of the wavespeed, and the wave becomes __unstable__, in other words, it cannot support itself any more. When this happens, the wave runs over itself. This is what you see as the wave is cresting. Then, it breaks, releasing all the energy it has, propelling your surfboard, a kid who's swimming, and your parents sun-baking up toward shore. Now let's talk about the different types of breaking waves(see the Visual examples for more info). The first one, which is common on most shores, is the "spilling breaker". These waves occur on gently sloping coasts where they break slowly and travel over a long distance. The second one, the "plunging breaker", is the wave that's good for surfing. These waves occur in coastlines that's a little steeper than the spilling breaker's coastline, but not so steep. These waves also slow a lot faster than spilling breakers, and its crest curls way over the wave and the wave suddenly plunges. Now, the 3rd one, which is the "surging breaker", is certainly not for swimming or in worst cases, surfing. Let's see why. If the coastline is very steep, the wave builds up very suddenly and breaks right into the beach. If you ever try to surf on these, it will slam you out of balance and will humiliate you in front of the judges. Anyway, it is good to know most things, including the different types of breaking waves and its effects on people, animals, and the environment. This is all that is known and we wish you good luck, and a happy time on the beach.

Visual Examples (Pictures, Graphics, Animations)



This is an animation of a breaker. The different types of breakers: a spilling breaker. (a)spilling breaker, (b)plunging breaker (c)surging breaker

A plunging breaker. The 3 types of breakers, but a little more artistic: 1.spilling breaker 2.plunging breaker 3.surging breaker

Links to more information: kingfish.coastal.edu/biology/sgilman/770Oceansinmotion.htm www.sciencedaily.com/articles/b/breaking_wave.htm Interesting Facts or Discoveries:(Trivia) 1. The biggest waves are the famed "tidal waves". These waves can reach a height of 1,000 feet and can travel up to 200 mph!!!!!!! 2.Tidal waves are very unrelated to tsunamis since tidal waves are caused by wind while tsunamis are caused by movements of the Earth. 3. When surfers are now covered by the breaking wave's crest, they refer to it as being "tubed", and the unfortunate surfer is likely to be wiped out.

Works Cited: kingfish.coastal.edu/biology/sgilman/770Oceansinmotion.html www.sciencedaily.com/articles/b/breaking_wave.htm