• Question: What causes there to be waves in the sea

    Asked by tjgreen to Aime, Akshat, Diana, Gemma, Judith on 22 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Judith McCann

      Judith McCann answered on 21 Jun 2011:

      Wind over the sea. There’s friction between air molecules and the water molecules so they are forced to move-bigger wind (e.g. storms) can make bigger waves, but tsunamis are generally caused by tectonic activity (underwater earthquakes/volcanos)

    • Photo: Gemma Sharp

      Gemma Sharp answered on 21 Jun 2011:

      Yep, Judith got in there first (again :p), but here’s an interesting extra for you:

      The Severn Estuary, which is between the Bristol Channel (sea) and the Severn River has the second highest tidal range in the world, and that creates a special kind of wave called a bore. Here’s a video of some people surfing it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKA39LQOIck (it goes on a bit, but you get the idea!)

    • Photo: Akshat Rathi

      Akshat Rathi answered on 22 Jun 2011:

      And there’s more to read about this if you like: https://oxygenj10.iasuk.ddev.site/2010/06/how-does-the-sea-create-waves

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