Types of Ocean Waves

Winds drive ocean currents in the upper 100 meters of the ocean’s surface. However, ocean currents also flow thousands of meters below the surface. These deep-ocean currents are driven by differences in the water’s density, which is controlled by temperature (thermo) and salinity (haline). This process is known as thermohaline circulation.

The ocean surface is just 2-dimensional so both transverse and longitudinal waves on the surface have 1 polarization only, and they can't really be distinguished mathematically. It's just about the formalism.

calm down the ocean, stop waves (gravity is #1) Capillary Waves. ... Primary forces start the water moving and the secondary forces give it direction.

Next post: Ocean Currents in Pacific Ocean. Ocean ... secondary forces that influence the currents to flow. The primary forces that influence the currents are:

Waves are actually a concentrated form of solar energy! Uneven heating of the Earth’s surface causes wind. Waves are generated by wind blowing over a distance of water. That distance is referred to as the fetch. Because the Pacific Ocean is so vast, the fetch is very large, leading to an energetic wave environment on the Oregon coast.

Because of the Coriolis Effect, the surface current moves in a direction 45o to the right of the wind in the Northern Hemisphere and 45o to the left of the wind in the Southern Hemisphere. The surface mass of water moves with a velocity (at the bottom of the spiral) of no greater than 3-4% near the surface.

Ocean surface waves are surface waves that occur in the upper layer of the ocean. They usually result from wind. Some are made by geologic effects like earthquakes or vulcanicity and may travel thousands of miles before striking land.

Let's define restoring force first: A force that tends to restore a disturbed ocean surface to a flat configuration (Intro. to Ocean Science, Douglas Segar). So a restoring f … orce works against a wave. Those forces are gravity, surface tension, and the Coriolis effect. Gravity is the primary restoring force for most waves.

Ocean and light waves represent types of transverse waves impacting their medium perpendicular to their direction of travel. Ocean waves travel on the surface of water, forcing the water down along their path.