The Science of Ocean Waves: Ripples, Tsunamis, and Stormy Seas
Language: English
Pages: 264
ISBN: 1421410788
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
"Powerful ocean waves fascinate the public, and they have made a lot of news lately." With that indisputable observation, scientist J. B. Zirker takes off on a whirlwind tour of the world of waves―from the "ordinary" waves that constantly churn the sea to the rogues or freaks that can rise up seemingly from nowhere to heights of 20 meters or more... and everything in between.
Addressing questions most ocean visitors have had and offering new ones for our consideration, The Science of Ocean Waves explains in accessible language how waves are formed, how they move, how they become huge and destructive, and how they're being studied now for clues that will help us plan for the future.
Devoting chapters to wind, tides, currents, breakers, tsunamis, forecasting, renewable energy, and El Niño―as well as discussing the gentler properties of ocean waves which inspire us and offer opportunities for relaxation and recreation―Zirker explores the physical factors that create waves.
Drawing on some of the recent storms that have devastated entire regions―such as Hurricane Katrina, the tsunami launched by the 2004 Sumatran earthquake, and the great tsunami that crushed the shore of Japan in 2011―Zirker explains the forces that cause these monster waves and reveals the toll they take on human lives.
Enhanced by dozens of illustrations and a comprehensive glossary, The Science of Ocean Waves will fascinate anyone curious about the science behind the headlines.
Praise for J. B. Zirker
"Scientists know their stuff but are rarely good storytellers, whereas good storytellers rarely possess the necessary sweeping command of a scientific discipline. Zirker is that rare animal who can both communicate the most demanding technical detail and make it accessible."― New Scientist
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These effects are examples of nonlinear behavior, and they greatly complicate the task of predicting the steady-state spectrum of ocean waves. In 1960 Owen Phillips, whom we first met in chapter 3, took the first step in analyzing how tall waves exchange energy. Phillips studied the collision of two deep-water wave trains of arbitrary wavelengths and directions. He set up an equation to describe the time history of the sine and cosine waves that represent the instantaneous shapes of the interacting
studied by Scripps scientists in earlier years. This time an all- out effort was planned. The heads of these canyons are only a few hundred meters off the shoreline. Their complex bottom topography strongly disturbs the persistent swell from the Pacific and generates strong surf, reflected waves, and currents. Conditions vary dramatically along the coast. At Black Beach the waves are reliably high enough to give surfers a good ride. Just two miles down the coast at La Jolla, the waves are
tsunamis were generated, ranging in height from 15 m to an astounding 43 m (141 ft). A 35-m wave destroyed the lighthouse at Scotch Cap on Unimak and killed all five lighthouse keepers. Another wave crossed the Pacific, reached Hilo, Hawaii, after five hours and caused 159 casualties, as well as tens of millions of dollars of property damage. This tsunami is sometimes referred to as the April Fools Day tsunami because many people in Hawaii thought the tsunami warning was just 154 The Science of
was spread throughout the Hawaiian Islands and coupled by telephone to the observatory. Then in 1960, following the huge Chilean earthquake and its disastrous tsunami, 26 nations around the Pacific Ocean agreed to join in establishing the Tsunami Warning System. This was accomplished in 1965 under the auspices of UNESCO. Two centers were established to collect and analyze earthquake signals, determine whether a tsunami is impending, estimate the path Tsunamis 155 of the tsunami, and if
steeper. In the Northeast, warmer than usual temperatures minimized the snowfall. It may be that Quebec’s terribly destructive ice storm that winter was exacerbated by El Niño’s warming effects, which turned the normally dry snow into wet mush that froze overnight on trees and power lines, pulling them down in a tangle of branches and wires. At the same time both California 160 The Science of Ocean Waves Fig. 10.1 This NASA satellite image shows the warm surface water moving eastward to the