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You are here: Home / Universe / Do Ocean Waves Really Move?

Do Ocean Waves Really Move?

March 5, 2020 by Karen Hill

Ocean waves are caused by winds that form ripples in the surface of the water, then gradually increase the height of these ripples until they become waves.

Water at the surface of the sea may look like it’s moving along with the waves, but actually it’s moving up and down in the same spot!

As a wave passes over a certain spot in the sea, the water at the surface rises, then falls when the wave has passed. The wave itself moves along, but the water stays where it is, bobbing up and down with the waves. It’s sort of like a field of grain rippling in the wind: The wind waves the grain back and forth, but the grain stays right where it is.

Waves in the open seas are often 50 feet high. And the biggest wave ever seen by man was about 112 feet high!

Related Facts

  • How Does Wind Create Waves In the Sea and What Determines the Amplitude and Frequency of Ocean Swells?
  • How Far Do Waves In the Ocean Travel Before They Lose Energy and Why Do Waves Get Smaller After a While?
  • How Is Sea Salt Better Than Regular Table Salt?
  • Why do Waves Always Break Parallel To the Shore?
  • How Do Oceanographers Determine the Average Depth Of the Ocean When Waves and Tides Affect the Measurements?
  • What was the European Age of Exploration?

Filed Under: Universe

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

Previous Post: « What Are the Seven Seas?
Next Post: What Is a Tidal Wave? »

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