Waves, Tides, Currents

John Huth
Harvard University
Wave Parameters
(Figure 7-1a)
 What Causes Waves?
• Wind
• Submarine disturbance
• Gravitational attraction of sun and moon
(tides – very long wavelength waves)
Motion of Water Particles Beneath
Waves
(Figure 7-3b)
 Deep Water Waves
(Figure 7-4a)
Waves do not interact with the seafloor
Orbits of the water molecules are circular.
 Shallow Water Waves
(Figure 7-4b)
Waves interact with the seafloor are known as Orbits
of the water molecules become elliptical.
 Characteristics of water waves
• Velocity depends on wavelength *or* water
depth
– Unlike sound or light – velocity is independent of
wavelength for these
• Waves become unstable when height is 1/7th of
wavelength – whitecaps (120 degree interior
angle)
• Longer wavelength waves hold more energy
• Depth for “shallow” versus “deep” is about 2
times wavelength
 gL Deep
V
2

V  gd Shallow

g Gravitation 32 ft/sec/sec
Water depth (ft)
d
L Wave length (ft)
 Instability – when h > 1/7 L
OR – when interior angle is less 120 degrees

120o

L
 Wind Generation of Waves
• The type of wave generated by wind is
determined by:
– Wind velocity
– Wind duration
– Fetch (distance over which wind blows)
• Simply put, wave size increases as the strength
and duration of the wind, and distance over
which it blows increases.
Cat’s paw
 Fetch Conditions
• Time and distance
• Small waves buildup, break
• Larger waves begin – hold more energy before
breaking
• Generally a range of wavelengths
– High wind velocity produces more uniform and longer
wavelength waves
• Typically for NE waters – fully developed seas
only for 10 knot winds
– Larger seas in open ocean
• Swells travel huge distances unaffected
 Comments on Swells
• Product of distant storms
– Can travel thousands of miles without losing energy
– Period of swell indicates severity of storm –
• Longer period – more severe storm
– 4 seconds – small
– 8-10 seconds – hurricane
• Mid ocean – can have multiple swells crossing
• In New England, sheltering of coast line limits
significant swell direction
– E.g. Gulf of Maine typically will only see SE swells
– Rhode Island catches a lot of Atlantic storms
– Newport beaches/surfing
Transformation of Shallow-water
Waves
(Figure 7-7b)
 Reflecting Swells at Great Wass Island
(Jonesport)
Angle of incidence equals angle of reflection
 Wave Refraction
(Figure 7-8a)
• Bending of the
wave crest as
waves enter
shallow water. It
is due to
– Drag along the
bottom.
– Differential
speed along the
crest.
 Wave Refraction at Chatham Inlet
Gradual transition between deep and shallow water

Shallow water

Deep Water
Extreme refraction at Baker Island
(Mt. Desert)
Swell patterns around an atoll
reflections

Main
swell

Refractions
Crossing swell patterns between
islands
Multi-swell patterns around island
Polynesian stick chart – illustrating
swell patterns from two islands
 Tides
• Tides are like very long period waves.
• Caused by the divergence of the gravitational
lines of force from one body to another
– Sun and moon on earth
• Moon’s tidal forces are five times larger than the
sun’s
• Causes a distortion of the shape of the earth
– The earth rotates underneath a tidal “bulge”
– Horizontal forces push water up against the
continental shelves, causing the water level to rise and
fall
 Gravitational field lines from the moon

Moon

Tidal forces
Parallel lines, plus…
 Largest tides occur when pull from the sun and
moon are in the same direction.

Spring tides

Neap tides
 Why worry about tides?
• Affects navigation, particularly near land
– Passages through shallow areas
– Passages through constricted channels
– Currents can be substantial (3-6 knots)
• Can frequently be clues to the presence of land
– E.g. current draining from an atoll
• Tides in the middle of the ocean are small (a few inches)
• Tides in embayments can be huge
– A result of resonance
– Bay of Fundy – 40’ tides
– Straits of Ungava
Old sow whirlpool – Gulf of Maine
Coriolis force causes rotary tides
Points of zero disturbance called
“amphidromic” points – high tides
rotate around these points
Amphidromic system – rotary tides
Amphidromic system in North Sea
 Diurnal and Semi-diurnal tides

Depends on location,
the forcing function comes
from the moon twice a day
and from the sun twice a day.
(12 hours, 26 minutes, to be
exact)

The harmonic properties of a

body of water determine
how it responds.

There is also a diurnal inequality

from the inclination of the
Moon’s orbit.
 Understanding local tides
• Local knowledge: tide chart (bait shops,
marinas, web)
• Look at water line – observe it for 15 minutes
– Is water dry above, or wet and drying out
• Incoming or outgoing tides
– From the structure of docks, height of seaweed zone,
etc, can figure out maximum height of tide
• Look for necks of land where current flows
quickly – use periods of slack tide to your
advantage.
Example: Sullivan reversing falls - Maine
 Currents
• Currents affect passage, must be taken into
account for any voyage – near land or away from
land.
• Many forces at play
– Wind
– Tide
– Thermal gradients, salinity gradients
– Gravity
– Fluid dynamics
– Geography
Main features of ocean currents
Franklin’s map of the Gulf Stream
Satellite view of currents, and associated eddies
 Seasonal Variations – Summer vs. Winter
in the North Pacific

Winter
Summer
How Polynesians estimated currents

Current direction

Initial bearing
Initial position
Fin
a l be
ar i
ng
Position after drift
 Considerations for currents
• Without something stationary, like an
island, you can’t really measure currents
– Exception – when the wind is running against
a current, the waves become steeper facing
into the wind
• Need to adjust heading for currents
– Change angle of heading to take this into
account
Sea Surface temperatures – some sharp boundaries
can be aids to navigations