If you have ever stood on a sandy beach and watched the waves roll in, you may have found yourself wondering what exactly causes the waves to form.  There are several different types of waves and each is formed by different events.  In certain situations the waves can be very small and gentle, other situations will produce violent waves that can cause enormous damage.

Now that’s a big wave…

The basic concept of a wave is the same regardless of how it is created.  A wave is simply produced through the transference of energy.  If you were to skip a rock across the surface of a lake, ripples would radiate outward from each location where the rock touched the water along its path.  In this situation, the rock transferred energy to the water which produced the tiny waves.  All this really means is that waves just don’t appear; they are created with the help of some other form of energy.

The most common types of waves are produced by the wind.  Picture the wind blowing over the surface of the sea.  As the wind blows, there is energy transference to the surface water that helps to push the wave forward.  On a particularly windy day, the waves are more likely to be bigger simply because there is more energy being transferred to the water.  On a calmer day of weather, waves may barely make a splash as they roll onto the beach.

It’s the wind that causes all the waves

Hurricanes are capable of producing the most violent waves.  The most destructive hurricanes can produce winds that blow at more than 135 knots.  It is easy to see how such strong winds could create dangerous waves.  These waves may also reach much further inland than the ordinary waves that roll in each day and may cause coastal flooding.

Wakes are another type of wave that can be seen in the water.  Watch a boat drive by in the water and you will see a series of small waves form at the bow and pass down the sides, forming a wake as they leave the stern.  These waves will spread outwards away from the boat. The waves are caused by the boat’s movement in the water which is another type of energy transference.  If the boat is just bobbing in a stationary position, the wake will likely be very small.  If a speedboat ploughs through the water, expect a far bigger wake.  The largest wakes that you are likely to see are those produced by some of the high-speed ferries that operate from ports on the South Coast of England.

Wake in the wake..

Although they are thankfully quite rare tsunamis are just another form of wave, but these ‘walls of water’ can cause a great deal of damage.  This type of wave caused much concern in 2004 after a tsunami in the Indian Ocean washed ashore and killed close to 230,000 people.  Tsunamis happen fairly infrequently although at least 25 major events have been recorded throughout the last century.

Unlike the more traditional wave a tsunami is triggered by a different kind of event.  Anything from an earthquake to a large underwater detonation can trigger these giant waves.  If a large earthquake were to occur in the ocean, a great deal of water would very suddenly be displaced.  As the water absorbs energy from the earthquake, a tsunami can form.  Because of the way a tsunami gradually grows, it might not even be detectable at sea.  It is possible that a ship could sail right over a tsunami and never even know it was there.

Normal waves created by the wind will have around 100 metres between each crest in the series.  A tsunami has closer to 200 kilometres between each crest in the series and they travel at speeds greater than 800 kilometres per hour.  As the tsunami comes closer to the shore, the waves begin to slow down and they start to pile up on one another.  This causes the distance between the waves to decrease dramatically. The end result is a gigantic wave that crashes onto the beach carrying all before it.

Tsunami’s are awful, dangerous things

Because of the unique nature of a tsunami, this type of natural event can’t really be predicted.  One of the biggest indications that a tsunami is coming occurs within minutes of the massive wave’s arrival.  As the tsunami comes closer to land, the water will begin to drawback from the shore into the crest of the wave.  Someone standing on the shore would notice that a portion of the beach that is not typically visible could now be seen.  Anyone witnessing this type of event needs to head towards high ground quickly because the tsunami will not be far behind; you will never outrun one!

Another type of large wave is known as a rogue wave.  This type of wave may not be as large as a tsunami but they can certainly pose a great threat to shipping or to people standing close the edge of the sea.  Unlike a tsunami that may be completely unnoticed at sea, a rogue wave appears along the surface of the ocean.  Rogue waves can be so dangerous because they are completely random and unpredictable. For many years, this concept of a rogue wave was considered to be a thing of fiction.  It was not until more recent years that evidence was found to prove that such waves actually existed.  Rogue waves occur fairly infrequently and nobody knows for sure what exactly causes them to form.

Quick! It’s a rouge wave!!!

It is a misconception that the moon creates waves.  Although the moon does have an impact on the Earth’s seas and oceans, it comes in the form of the tides and not waves.  There is a gravitational attraction between the Earth and the moon that is similar to two magnets trying to pull themselves together.  The Earth can’t hold on to the water like it can the land and so the moon is able to pull the water up and down on a continuous basis.  This process produces our high and low tides

So there are several different types of waves that exist.  Wind created waves are very common while tsunamis and rouge waves are thankfully much more rare.  The one thing that these waves all have in common is that they were created by the transference of some type of energy.

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