Author Question: What factors are needed in wind wave development? What occurs after these waves ... (Read 42 times)

madam-professor · **on:** Aug 22, 2018

What factors are needed in wind wave development? What occurs after these waves develop?

Question 2

What is meant by the mixing time of the ocean?

Melissahxx · **Reply #1 on:** Aug 22, 2018

Answer to Question 1

Wind strength is the first factor that is needed to generate wind waves. The wind must be moving at a faster speed than the wave crests. This allows energy to transfer from the atmosphere to the ocean surface.
Wind needs to blow for a certain duration to affect wind wave growth. High winds over short periods of time do not produce large waves.
Lastly, there needs to be an uninterrupted distance for the wind to blow across without a significant change in direction. This area is called a fetch.
Once waves are generated, they begin the process of dispersion. The waves begin to separate into groups with similar wavelengths.
The wave groups, or wave trains, begin to move. These trains move at half the speed of individual waves in the train.

Answer to Question 2

The ocean, as a vast body of water, is mixed by the constant action of winds and currents, which in turn mix all of the ocean's dissolved constituents. If constituent minerals remain in the ocean water for long periods of time, they will become evenly distributed throughout the ocean. The mixing time of the ocean is about 1,600 years, so all elements with a residence time longer than this (the major constituents) will disperse throughout the ocean. At this rate, the ocean has been mixed hundreds of thousands of times. The result of this long-term thorough mixing is the basis for the principle of constant proportions.