Dr. Beach's Survival Guide by Stephen P. Leatherman

Author:Stephen P. Leatherman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Yale University Press
Published: 2003-07-27T16:00:00+00:00

Figure 6. Types of breaking waves. Plunging breakers, top, are the most spectacular to watch. Spilling waves, center, break over long distances, gradually losing their energy. Surging waves appear as “humps” moving through the water and do not even appear to break.

Figure 7. The two most common types of breaking waves, plunging breaker (top), and spilling breaker.

Spilling breakers are much less imposing and lose their energy over long distances. They are formed when waves move over beaches with gradually sloping bottoms. The breaking water rolls or tumbles forward as the wave advances into shallower water, producing a wide surf zone. Spilling waves generally provide safe conditions for waders, inexperienced swimmers, and novice boogie boarders; the East and Gulf coast beaches are most often subject to this type of breaking wave.

Surging waves are much more rare than spilling and plunging waves. These waves are created where the water is relatively deep near shore cliffs and coral reefs or at very steep beaches composed of gravel or small stones (called shingle in Great Britain). Surging waves can be deceptive because they do not truly curl or break; instead, the surge causes a sudden rise and fall of the water level. Serious injuries have been caused by surging waves on rocky coastlines.

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