What are the physics behind ocean waves?
140237
And what is wrong with your other question you asked just two hours ago,\nhttp://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AsBeLRYw_Rp2AB9WGpAUAny7zKIX?qid=1006021007473
800950
Microwaves and ocean waves share one common characteristic:\nIt is the transfer of energy through a medium.  The waves have a variable intensity.  For a microwave it is electromagnetic energy traveling at the speed of light with a frequency in the giga-hertz range.  For an ocean wave is the transfer of mechanical energy at a frequency of 1 per 30 seconds or so.  The height of the wave is proportional to the amount of energy and the depth of the water.\n\nIn the case of communications, the microwave energy is modulated to transmit information according to the modulation protocol and frequency.\n\nI hope that helps.\n\nBy the way, microwave energy is used in microwave ovens because the frequency of the microwave causes the water molecules in the food to react and heat.  This is because the water molecule is a bipolar molecule with a resonanat frequency that gets matched up to the microwave and thus converts the electromagnetic energy into kinetic energy, which gets converted to heat.\n\nj
9692
An earthquake under a body of water often lifts or collapses the land under the water.  This sudden move of a large body of land displaces the water above it, creating a massive wave.  The wave is unlike waves you see at the beach, which are caused by wind.  This wave is very long and can travel at hundreds of miles per hour.  Once the wave reaches shallow water, the wave is compressed, lifting the water very high, causeing a tsunami, or tidal wave.
329954
Generally it is the action of wind on the surface of the water. wave in a small lake are proportionally smaller the waves in a large lake or bay. Waves in the ocean have a lot longer for the effect to gain momentum.
520750
When swimming in the ocean, have you ever wondered why you tend to be carried down the beach, away from your towel in an undertow? \n\nThe answer is simple. This process is called longshore drift and is generated by wave and current action. \n\nWater and sediment are transported in a zig-zag pattern as waves and currents approach the shoreline at an angle. This zig-zag pattern is the mechanism for sediment transport as the swash is immediately followed by the backwash to the ocean. This energy created from the breaking waves allows for weak currents to carry large amounts of coarse-grained sediment down the shoreline. These weak currents, known as longshore currents, carry water and sediment parallel to the shoreline toward the downdrift end of the beach
756525
winds and air tunnels cause the waves.... and more accurately .. its the high and low pressure that coz the winds to move....:)
869831
P wave is the primary wave. Generated from the point called focus. The speed of this wave is from 13 to 17 kilo meters per second. Moves the particles in its direction of propagation. you can assume that this is non destructive wave. The secondary waves comes from the point of focus. The speed is nearly half of the primary wave. This moves the particles perpendicular to the direction of its propagation. Destructive.Do not pass through liquid. These waves are called body waves. generated from earthquakes. The L wave and R waves are most dangerous waves coming from the surface of the earth. These waves are coming because of reflection and refraction.These are called surface waves. The speed is slower than other two waves.
129199
All light waves dissipate through space in a wave function pattern.  When they interact with obstacles, these wave patterns can cause interference patterns like waves of water.
116177
The ocean currents are a major factor in the climate of this planet. Many regions experience weather patterns and temperatures that are related primarily to the effect of ocean currents. Other weather patterns like hurricanes and El Niño events are also strongly affected by ocean currents.\n\nOcean currents in the Northern Hemisphere circulate in clockwise patterns around the basins. These are known as gyres. The Gulf Stream which moves northward up the western side of the Atlantic Ocean basin is responsible for moderating and warming the climate of Ireland, England, and northern Europe. The equatorial currents that move westward across the Pacific Ocean are an intrinsic part of the climate patterns known as El Niño and the Southern Oscillation. This climate pattern effects North and South America, Australia, India, eastern Asia, and even parts of Africa. Even Western Europe can statistically relate flooding events to El Niño. In years when El Niño is active hurricanes in the Atlantic have been found to be less active. \nhttp://typhoon.atmos.colostate.edu/\n\nOne scientist proposed that sub sea eruptions along the East Pacific Rise might be creating large volumes of rising heated water that would periodically mess up the ocean currents and cause the changes of weather patterns associated with El Niño/Southern Oscillation events. Another scientist attempting to verify this discovered that the El Niño events actually precede swarms of seismic activity in that area, and suggested the El Niño may actually be triggering the sub sea volcanic eruptions by slight changes in sea level and water pressure over the mid-ocean ridges. \nhttp://ess.geology.ufl.edu/usra_esse/ENSO_Oceans.html\n\nAnother important ocean current circulates deep in the oceans and actually moves through each of the world’s oceans in a continuous slow-moving belt known as the Conveyor. This is driven by cold, salty, North Atlantic water that sinks and moves southward to the Antarctic, where it moves eastward into the Pacific, and then northward to the North Pacific, where it turns and moves back through the Indian Ocean and toward the North Atlantic again.  It is estimated that if the Conveyer were to shut down, the North Atlantic region would be 20 degrees F. colder within ten years, and much of Europe would have a climate more like northern Norway has today.\nhttp://www.columbia.edu/cu/record/23/11/13.html
84852
The depth of the water determines what wavelength wave can pass through it.  Deeper water passes longer waves, which can contain more energy than shorter ones.  When a wave gets into progressively shallower water it bunches up, rises, crests and finally breaks.
47570
The tide comes in and goes out due to gravity, the waves are attributed to wind, techtonic plate activity and weather cycles on the surface of the ocean.  A swell means wave action may be increasing on certain beaches depending on which way the beach faces, i.e. south facing beach.
744888
Actually, the most recent scientific explanation for this is "Rogue Waves."  I read this in a recent article in the Science Times section of the NYTimes.  I will try to find the article for you.\n\nBut, basically, due to the geography of this area, the water temperature, wind currents & importantly ocean currents, this area is more prone to huge Rogue waves (which can often be 60-100 ft in height and can occur even with normal (i.e. non-stormy) weather patterns.  (and with no warning).   They have recently installed some monitoring devices in these areas to try to warn ships/cruisers that travel in these areas.\n\nEdit:  These articles should help you + they have some cool pictures.\nhttp://www.damninteresting.com/?p=701\nhttp://www.physorg.com/news77381892.html\nhttp://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/11/science/11wave.html?ei=5090&en=d5cdc1cbc2182342&ex=1310270400&partner=rssuserland&pagewanted=print\nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freak_wave
630748
The more wind the higher the waves.\n\nWhen wind blows over the ocean's surface, it creates waves. Their size depends on how far, how fast and how long the wind blows. A brief, gently breeze forms patches of tiny ripples on the surface called catspaws; strong, steady winds over long distances create large waves. But even when you feel no wind at all, you may encounter large swells created by distant storms.
189545
The moon's gravitational pull causes the waves to form.\n\nAnd those waves are what cause wind to be generated.
164234
This is a complicated question to answer completely, but there are some things one knows.\n\n1. S waves will not travel through fluids since they are tranaverse waves. If there is a part of the earth (like the outer core) that S waves will not travel through, then you know it is fluid. \n\n2. Different types of materials have different speeds of P and S waves\n\n3. Waves can get trapped at boundaries and get to the destination faster (head waves)\n\n4. Waves will bounce off boundaries between two different materials, and show up in the recordings. \n\n5. There are formulae giving speeds of P and S waves in terms of the continuum mechanical properties of the material. \n\n6. The phases, frequencies, and amplitudes, phase and group velocities, travel times, etc of the waves that travel through the earth are all data that can be used to infer the earth's structure. \n\nThere is a lot of analysis that is conducted on seismic data to produce pictures of the interior. The signals are carefully processed, and then turned into pictures of the interior. \n\nOf course, there is a lot more detail in all of this, but this should give you a general idea to start.\n\n----------------\n\n\nHere is a my answer to a previous question about this that might be helpful:\n\n  \n\n\n \n\nThe types of seismic waves, and their amplitudes and speeds, that are transmitted through a material depend on the properties of the material. \n\nFor example, transverse waves will not travel through liquids, only solids. So the transverse S waves produced by a seismic event will not pass through the fluid inner core of the earth. Different layers between different types of materials in the earth produce reflections, so looking at the reflected seismic waves can tell something about the structure and the boundaries between regions in the earth. \n\nMore sophisticated methods for imaging the earth's interior can also be constructed. Seismic simulations can be produced and the models that produced these simulations compared with the observed seismic signals. Using exhaustion or more sophisticated optimization techniques, scientists can refine these models of earth structure. More advanced inverse methods can be developed to infer features of earth structure. \n\nInstead of using high frequency seismic waves, one can look at a seismic modal decomposition, and then develop terrestrial models that reproduce the frequencies, amplitudes and phases of the observed free oscillations using inverse methods.\n\nThe actual details can be quite complicated, and many aspects remain open problems.\n\n-----------\n\nI have attached a link to the previous question and answers that are similar.
1126812
1) Evaporation.  The world's largest ocean is on one side of the peninsula, Puget Sound is on the other.  More water evaporates from the ocean that from the sound.\n\n2)  Elevation.  The water from the ocean side of the peninsula does not make it to the sound side of the peninsula because of elevation.  As elevation rises, it forces clouds to go up where the air can hold less moisture.  The clouds then lose their moisture as precipitation while getting over the hump.  The moisture never makes it eastward.
24692
The best answer from the above choices: \nSlow moving convection currents within the molten aesthenosphere supply new material to the spreading centers in the earth's ocean floors and other places. These currents are thought to provide force to cause the motion of the oceanic plates, either directly, or indirectly through the mid ocean ridge building process. \n\nSubduction is only one part of the process of plate tectonics, that does provide some driving force by pulling the subducting plate downward. \n\nGravity has a role as well, as without gravity, the mid-ocean ridges would not have the weight to provide force with which to push the plates apart at the spreading centers, and the subducting plates would not have the force to pull plates. \n\nThe earth's magnetic field may have the least to do with plate tectonics, possibly no role at all.