The winds cause waves on the surface of the ocean (and on lakes).

The wind transfers some of its energy to the water,

through friction between the air molecules and the water molecules. Stronger winds (like storm surges) cause larger
waves. You can make your own miniature waves by blowing across the surface of a pan of water.

Waves of water do not move horizontally, they only move up and down (a wave does not represent a flow of water). You
can see a demonstration of this by watching a floating buoy bob up and down with a wave; it does not, however, move
horizontally with the wave.
Tsunamis (sometimes called tidal waves) are different from surface waves; they are usually caused by underwater
earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, or landslides.
A tsunami (pronounced sue-nahm-ee) is a series of huge waves that can cause great devastation and loss of life when they
strike a coast.

Tsunamis are caused by an underwater earthquake, a volcanic eruption, an sub-marine rockslide, or, more rarely, by an
asteroid or meteoroid crashing into in the water from space. Most tsunamis are caused by underwater earthquakes, but not
all underwater earthquakes cause tsunamis - an earthquake has to be over about magnitude 6.75 on the Richter scale for it
to cause a tsunami. About 90 percent of all tsunamis occur in the Pacific Ocean.
Many tsunamis could be detected before they hit land, and the loss of life could be minimized, with the use of modern
technology, including seismographs (which detect earthquakes), computerized offshore buoys that can measure changes in
wave height, and a system of sirens on the beach to alert people of potential tsunami danger.
NOTE: If you see the water recede quickly and unexpectedly from a beach (this is called drawback), run toward higher
ground or inland -- there may be a tsunami coming. Also, if you are on the coast and there is an earthquake, it may have
caused a tsunami, so run toward higher ground or inland. Some beaches have tsunami warning sirens -- do not ignore
them. The first wave in a tsunami is often not the largest; if you experience one abnormally-huge wave, go inland quickly --
even bigger waves could be coming soon.

The Word Tsunami:

The word tsunami comes from the Japanese word meaning "harbor wave." Tsunamis are sometimes incorrectly called "tidal
waves" -- tsunamis are not caused by the tides (tides are caused by the gravitational force of the moon on the sea).
Regular waves are caused by the wind.

The Development of a Tsunami:

A tsunami starts when a huge volume of water is quickly shifted. This rapid movement can happen as the result of an
underwater earthquake (when the sea floor quickly moves up or down), a rock slide, a volcanic eruption, or another high-
energy event.

After the huge volume of water has moved, the resulting wave is very long (the distance from crest to crest can be hundred
of miles long) but not very tall (roughly 3 feet tall). The wave propagates (spreads) across the sea in all directions; it can
travel great distances from the source at tremendous speeds.
The Size of a Tsunami:
Tsunamis have an extremely long wavelength (wavelength is the distance between the crest (top) of one wave and the
crest of the next wave) -- up to several hundred miles long. The period (the time between two successive waves) is also
very long -- about an hour in deep water.
In the deep sea, a tsunami's height can be only about 1 m (3 feet) tall. Tsunamis are often barely visible when they are in
the deep sea. This makes tsunami detection in the deep sea very difficult.
The Speed of a Tsunami:
A tsunami can travel at well over 970 kph (600 mph) in the open ocean - as fast as a jet flies. It can take only a few hours
for a tsunami to travel across an entire ocean. A regular wave (generated by the wind) travels at up to about 90 km/hr.
A Tsunami Hits the Coast:

As a tsunami wave approaches the coast (where the sea becomes shallow), the trough (bottom) of a wave hits the beach
floor, causing the wave to slow down, to increase in height (the amplitude is magnified many times) and to decrease in
wavelength (the distance from crest to crest).
At landfall, a tsunami wave can be hundreds of meters tall. Steeper shorelines produce higher tsunami waves.
In addition to large tsunami waves that crash onto shore, the waves push a large amount of water onto the shore above the
regular sea level (this is called runup). The runup can cause tremendous damage inland and is much more common than
huge, thundering tsunami waves.
Tsunami Warning Systems:
Tsunami warning systems exist in many places around the world. As scientists continuously monitor seismic activity
(earthquakes), a series of buoys float off the coast and monitor changes in sea level. Unfortunately, since tsunamis are not
very tall in height when they are out at sea, detection is not easy and there are many false alarms. Sirens at affected
beaches may be activated -- do not ignore them!
Wind-Generated Waves vs. Tsunami Waves:

Regular waves (caused by the wind) are very different from tsunami waves. Tsunami waves are much faster than wind-
generated waves and they have a much longer wavelength (the distance from crest to crest). In the deep sea, tsunami
waves are very small, but by the coast, they dwarf regular waves.
How Often do Tsunamis Occur?
Tsunamis are very rare. There are roughly six major tsunamis each century.
Tiny Model of a Tsunami:
You can make a tiny model of a tsunami by dropping a rock into a bowl of water, causing ripples to propagate (travel)
outwards from the site of impact. Another way is to slightly jolt the bowl of water and watch it slosh over the rim on one
side.

Why do oceans are salty?...

As water flows in rivers, it picks up small amounts of mineral salts from the rocks and soil of the river beds. This very-
slightly salty water flows into the oceans and seas. The water in the oceans only leaves by evaporating (and the freezing of
polar ice), but the salt remains dissolved in the ocean - it does not evaporate. So the remaining water gets saltier and
saltier as time passes.

SALINITY
The salinity (salt content) of ocean water varies. The oceans and seas contain roughly 5 x 10 16 tons of salts. One cubic
foot of average sea water contains 2.2 pounds of salt.

The oceans are about 3.5% salt (by weight). Salinity is generally reported in terms of parts per thousand (abbreviated
o/oo), the number of pounds of salt per 1,000 pounds of water; the average ocean salinity is 35 o/oo.

The saltiest water is in the Red Sea and in the Persian Gulf, which have a salinity of about 40 o/oo (due to very high
evaporation rates and low fresh water influx). The least salty seas are in the polar regions, where both melting polar ice
and a lot of rain dilute the salinity.

Parts per
Sea salts
Thousand
chloride 19.3 o/oo
sodium 10.7 o/oo
sulfate 2.7 o/oo
magnesium 1.3 o/oo
calcium 0.4 o/oo
potassium 0.4 o/oo
bicarbonate 0.15 o/oo
bromide 0.07 o/oo
other 0.06 o/oo
Total
35.08 o/oo
Salinity
Why is the ocean blue?..

Sunlight is made up of all the colors of the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet. Some of the sunlight is
reflected off the surface of the water, reflecting the color of the sky. Some of the sunlight penetrates the water and is
scattered by ripples and particles in the water (this tinges the appearance of the ocean with the color of the particles). In
deep water, much of the sunlight is scattered by the oxygen in the water, and this scatters more of the blue light.
Water absorbs more of the red light in sunlight; the water also enhances the scattering of blue light. Sir Chandrasekhar
Venkata Raman (an Indian physicist) won the Nobel prize in 1930 for his work on light.

Some Oddly-Colored Seas:

The Red Sea often looks red because of red algae that live in this sea.
The Black Sea looks almost black because it has a high concentration of hydrogen sulfide (which appears black).
What causes tides?

Tides are periodic rises and falls of large bodies of water. Tides are caused by the gravitational interaction between the
Earth and the Moon. The gravitational attraction of the moon causes the oceans to bulge out in the direction of the moon.
Another bulge occurs on the opposite side, since the Earth is also being pulled toward the moon (and away from the water
on the far side). Since the earth is rotating while this is happening, two tides occur each day. Isaac Newton was the first
person to explain tides scientifically.

For information on the moon, click here.

The Sun's Interaction with the Tides

Spring Tides
Spring tides are especially strong tides (they do not have anything to do with the season Spring). They occur when the
Earth, the Sun, and the Moon are in a line. The gravitational forces of the Moon and the Sun both contribute to the tides.
Spring tides occur during the full moon and the new moon.

The Proxigean Spring Tide is a rare, unusually high tide. This very high
tide occurs when the moon is both unusually close to the Earth (at its
closest perigee, called the proxigee) and in the New Moon phase (when the The eccentricity of the orbit of the
Moon is between the Sun and the Earth). The proxigean spring tide occurs
at most once every 1.5 years. moon in this illustration is greatly
exaggerated.
Neap Tides
Neap tides are especially weak tides. They occur when the gravitational forces of the Moon and the Sun are perpendicular
to one another (with respect to the Earth). Neap tides occur during quarter moons.

Coral reefs

Coral reefs are warm, clear, shallow ocean habitats that are rich in life. The reef's massive structure is formed from coral
polyps, tiny animals that live in colonies; when coral polyps die, they leave behind a hard, stony, branching structure made
of limestone.
The coral provides shelter for many animals in this complex habitat, including sponges, nudibranchs, fish (like Blacktip Reef
Sharks, groupers, clown fish, eels, parrotfish, snapper, and scorpion fish), jellyfish, anemones, sea stars (including the
destructive Crown of Thorns), crustaceans (like crabs, shrimp, and lobsters), turtles, sea snakes, snails, and mollusks (like
octopuses, nautilus, and clams). Birds also feast on coral reef animals.
Types of Corals: There are two types of coral, hard coral and soft coral. Hard corals (like brain coral and elkhorn coral)
have hard, limestone skeletons which form the basis of coral reefs. Soft corals (like sea fingers and sea whips) do not build
reefs.
Where are Coral Reefs?: Coral reefs develop in shallow, warm water, usually near land, and mostly in the tropics; coral
prefer temperatures between 70 and 85 ° F (21 - 30 °C). There are coral reefs off the eastern coast of Africa, off the
southern coast of India, in the Red Sea, and off the coasts of northeast and northwest Australia and on to Polynesia. There
are also coral reefs off the coast of Florida, USA, to the Caribbean, and down to Brazil.
The Great Barrier Reef (off the coast of NE Australia) is the largest coral reef in the world. It is over 1,257 miles (2000 km)
long.
Types of Reefs: The different types of reefs include:
• Fringing reefs are reefs that form along a coastline. They grow on the continental shelf in shallow water.
• Barrier reefs grow parallel to shorelines, but farther out, usually separated from the land by a deep lagoon. They
are called barrier reefs because they form a barrier between the lagoon and the seas, impeding navigation.
• Coral Atolls are rings of coral that grow on top of old, sunken volcanoes in the ocean. They begin as fringe reefs
surrounding a volcanic island; then, as the volcano sinks, the reef continues to grow, and eventually only the reef
remains.
Coral Reefs in Danger: Many coral reefs are dying. Major threats to coral reefs are water pollution (from sewage and
agricultural runoff), dredging off the coast, careless collecting of coral specimens, and sedimentation (when silt or sand
from construction or mining projects muddies the waters of a reef and kills coral, which needs light to live).