How does the fetch of a wave relate to its size?

Fetch length, along with the wind speed (wind strength), and duration, determines the size (sea state) of waves produced. If the wind direction is constant, the longer the fetch and the greater the wind speed, the more wind energy is transferred to the water surface and the larger the resulting sea state will be.

What is a fetch how it affects wave height?

Wave height is affected by wind speed, wind duration (or how long the wind blows), and fetch, which is the distance over water that the wind blows in a single direction. … If the wind speed is great but it only blows for a few minutes, no large waves will result even if the wind speed is strong and fetch is unlimited.

How does fetch affect coastlines?

The fetch of the wave and the strength of the wind. Powerful winds and a long fetch create the most damaging (erosive) waves. The angle of the slope – steep slopes erode more violently and frequently. Weather conditions – freezing temperatures and heavy rain increase weathering and the rate of erosion.

What is fetch in wave terms?

Fetch. 1. The area in which ocean waves are generated by the wind. Also refers to the length of the fetch area, measured in the direction of the wind.

What are the 4 main factors that affect the size of a wave?

A number of factors affect the size of waves. These include wind speed, duration, water depth, distance of wind travel over open water or fetch, direction of tide, speed of tide, etc. Higher wind speeds result in bigger waves and smaller speeds result in relatively smaller waves.

How does wind speed affect wave frequency?

If the crests are moving with the wind (in the same direction as the wind), then sound velocity is effectively increased. This has two competing effects on the perceived frequency. On the one hand, frequency should go down because the wavelength increases.

What is the fetch quizlet?

The fetch refers to. The distance over which the wind blows without interruption. The time between two successive waves is called the. period.

Why does wave height increase as waves enter shallow water?

As a wave enters shallow water, increased wave height results as the wave’s energy is packed into less surface area with the accompanying (increase) (de- crease) in wavelength and wave speed.

What happens between the wind and waves?

As wind blows across the water’s surface, friction occurs and energy is transferred from wind to water. The result is a rising crest that forms into a wave. Over time and distance, sustained wind strength and duration build up a large amount of energy beneath the ocean’s surface, forming deeper waves known as swells.

When talking about waves What is fetch quizlet?

3. Fetch – The distance over the water that the wind blows in the same direction.

What is the fetch geology quizlet?

Fetch is the distance the wind blows over a continuous water surface. Waves in the ocean have a larger fetch than waves in lakes and ponds.

What controls the height of wind generated waves quizlet?

Wave heights increase as all three factors increase: The greater the wind speed, the larger the wave heights. The longer the duration, the larger the wave heights.

Why do waves approaching the shoreline bend?

Waves approaching the shoreline often bend because the part of the wave nearest the shore reaches shallow water and slows first, whereas the end that is still in deep water continues forward at its full speed.

Is the movement of sand parallel to the shore?

Longshore drift is the movement of sand parallel to the shore caused by the angle of the waves breaking on the beach. Longshore drift can cause the beach to build out from the mainland, across the mouth of a shoreline indentation such as a bay or estuary.

When the daily tidal range is least it is called?

Neap tides are tides that have the smallest tidal range, and occur when the Earth, the Moon, and the Sun form a 90° angle.

How do a waves speed wavelength and height change as the wave moves into shallow water and breaks?

How do a wave’s speed, wavelength, and height change as the wave moves into shallow water and breaks? The speed and wavelength of the wave decrease, and the wave’s height increases.

What is the effect of big waves on shorelines?

When larger and stronger waves hit the shoreline, such as in a storm, more shoreline is eroded. On a beach that is made up of a mixture of small sand grains and larger, dense rocks, the sand will be eroded away first, leaving behind the larger rocks.

What happens to the size of orbital water motion with increasing water depth?

What happens to the size of orbital water motion with increasing water depth? The diameter of the orbit gets increasingly smaller with depth. … They move in a circular orbit but not toward the shore. wind waves are deep-water, generated by wind, restored by gravity, and move in a particular direction.