What are wave breakers and what  effect do they have  on the shore?
924663
This is just an educated guess, but:\n\nWave breakers are man made structures designed to absorbe the force associated with waves before they arrive at the shore.  These forces have the cumulative effect of reducing the shoreline as the soft earth elements become slowly degraded after successive wave pummels.  The wave breakers are heavy duty structures that absorb these forces so that the resulting waves that do make it to the shoreline are weaker and don't cause as much damage.
556213
There are levees that keep rivers from flooding out of their banks.  There are swamps and marshes that provide a buffer when a storm surge hits.  Breakwaters and barriers along some parts of the Louisiana shoreline that break up the waves before the wave can hit shore so that coastal erosion is reduced and the beaches can be rebuilt. \n\nNew Orleans also operates huge pumps that continually siphon water out of the city.\n\nNot sure what you're referring to, but hope this helps.
575301
Rayleigh & Love waves are both surface waves. Surface waves in general are the most destructive as pointed out earlier.\n\nLove waves shake the ground back & forth.\n\nRayleigh waves move more like ocean waves. The ground actually rises & falls. THis is the one that does the most shaking to the ground so therefore it is the one that does the most damage to structures.
562093
A wide beach with fine sand (no rocks) works best. When the wave comes in you wait until the receding water is about an inch in depth. "Throw" your board so it skims upon the receding water. Run and jump on your board and ride the board into the oncoming surf. It takes practice and an eye to determine which waves are the right ones to ride.
1120243
The type of wave you are refering to is not a tsunami. These types of waves are more often called "freak waves" or "rogue waves" in oceanographic literature. Tsunamis are only evident in shallow water and even when passing over seamounts are not generally noticeable to a passing ship. \n\nRogue or freak waves are rare, and since we have been positioning oil rigs offshore we have been able to observe and measure more of them that we previously had reports about.  The "New Year Wave" was reported by an oil platform in the North Sea off of Norway and measured at 25.6 meters in height. This was considerably more than the platform designers anticipated. I don't have exact statistics but I have heard anecdotal stories of waves of this height passing oil rigs during Hurricane Katrina last year in the Gulf of Mexico. The problem with measuring these waves during a hurricane is that the oil rigs are normally evacuated in advance and instrumentation often fails to survive the wave.  A number of oil rigs were lost during the hurricane. \n\nHere is a good website discussing current research on rogue waves:\nhttp://www.math.uio.no/~karstent/waves/index_en.html\n\nThe BBC did an interesting documentary on Freak Waves that makes them sound very alarming as a hazard to ships and gives some examples of close calls by passenger liners:\nhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/science/horizon/2002/freakwave.shtml
593734
A Shore Line Current, or Longshore Current, is the result of wave refraction.  Water does not move in a parallel fashion normally; in fact, incoming waves actually approach at decreasing angle as their speed decreases (think of a door closing).  Water comes onshore (swash) and then receeds (backwash) into the next line of oncoming waves with a direction perpendicular to the shoreline (waves in open water always move perpendicular to the crestline -- the long axis of a wave).  As a result of this interference, water moves down current.  Simply put: Under the influence of waves in the near shore environment, water moves onshore, offshore, and PARALLEL to the shore.  Hence, the Longshore Current.  It doesn't actually move in a straight line, but follows the same basic pattern (->/|/|/|/-> for lack of a better way to illustrate this on this site).
714417
A tsunami is a wave that is not cause by normal wind/tidal action.\n\nThe height of a tsunami will decrease with distance from the source that caused it, often an underwater earthquake or landslide, and so can range in height from many metres to no more than a ripple. It also depends on how large a volume of water was displaced at the event - small displacement = small wave and vice versa.\n\nFor example, though you may have a strong earthquake under the sea, it may be deep enough not to shift the surface of the sea bed by much, and so any tsunami produced would be small.\n\nSo you can't really say that a small wave isn't a tsunami. It's just that the big ones are the only ones that hit the headlines. Even the name does not allude to size, it roughly translates as "harbour wave" due to the fact that the wave is often not visible until close to shore as the depth of water decreases, forcing the wave to appear.
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
68561
The represent two different ends of the spectrum of erosion. A cove tends to be a sheltered less energetic environment than a point exposed to the full force of the ocean waves - therefore waves either deposit or do not erode sand from coves, while wave erosion of points keeps them cut back to exposed rock - carrying away all finer grained materials.
490870
For me I use high tide to low tide depending on the type of break you are looking for. High tide usually brings shore break waves and are smaller. Low tide usually has more contiuned sets and the waves are larger. I messed up my fins by trying to catch shore break during high tide. Good Luck!
801511
To get really good waves you need a sudden rise in sea floor elevation.  Florida is sitting in the middle of a giant underwater shelf... there is no real substantial change in the elevations of shelves to "bump" the water up high enough that it curls under its own weight and creates good surfing waves.  \n\nThe west coast (by comparison) gets good waves because there is very deep water right off the coast.  When the vertical column of water that creates a wave, encounters the sudden seafloor rise, it has nowhere to go but up.  This is only amplified by the fact that the prevailing winds across North America go west to east.
241018
= wind speed measurement over shore and water surface.\n\nclick link to read more...
663992
Breakwaters...  Although they are not always "T" shaped.  They are mainly used in large bodies of water, In the Great Lakes and the Oceans they are usually used as a way to block the rough seas from harbors.
801417
click here:http://www.theenvironmentsite.org/Forum/viewtopic.php?t=663\nhttp://news.nationalgeographic.com/kids/2004/08/waves.html
41564
How are tsunamis generated?          \n\nTsunamis are generated by any large, impulsive displacement of the sea level. \nTsunamis are also triggered by landslides into or under the water surface, and can be generated by volcanic activity and meteorite impacts.
501528
Yes, it does. For one thing, I've seen it hit the ocean and cause a scatter/ripple effect in the water. It was actually very cool.\n\nSecondly, why do you think people always tell you to get out of the water when there is a lightening storm overhead?
55739
Blow-Out Tide: This is a colloquial phrase used to describe an unusually low tide, resulting in large areas of exposed river bottom in nearshore shallows, marshes and tributaries. Beware of grounding your boat.