Wind
What unit of measurement do we use to measure wind speed?
Knots
What creates waves?
The wind
What is the distance between two wave crests called?
Wavelength
What type of force causes tides?
Gravitational
What is an outgoing tide also called?
Ebbing or ebb tide
What direction does air flow around a high pressure system in the southern hemisphere?
Anti-clockwise
What is the top or peak of a wave called?
Crest
What is the name for water/wave movement up a beach?
Swash
What has a larger influence on tides, the sun or the moon?
The moon
Where in Australia has the largest tides?
Broome/Derby 12m
What direction does air flow in a cyclone
Clockwise, as they are a low pressure system
What three factors determine wave size?
Wind strength/speed, time wind blows for and fetch (distance wind blows)
What is fetch?
The distance across water the wind has blown
What is tidal range?
The difference in height between high & low tides
Is tidal range greatest during spring or neap tides?
During spring tides
The winds typically experienced on a summer afternoon in Rockingham are an example of?
Seabreeze
How is swell different from seas
Seas are caused by localised winds and form quickly. Swell forms on open oceans and take hundreds or thousands of km to form.
Which wave is more consistent, point break or beach break, Why?
Point break, as the seafloor us usually rocks/reef that doesn't change/move.
Describe the orientation of the sun, moon & earth during a spring tide.
They are all in alignment/on the same horizontal plane
During which moon phase would you expect spring tides?
Full and new moon
What creates wind
The net movement of air from areas of high pressure to low pressure.
What are the three wave types/shapes?
Plunging, spilling & surging
Why do waves break on the shoreline and not in the open ocean
Because the potential/kinetic energy of the wave orbitals hits the seabed, causing the wave to raise up and topple over itself.
High: 0745 1.76m
Low: 1400 0.24m
What is the tidal range?
1.52m
What is the difference between a diurnal and semidiurnal tide
Diurnal = 1 high/low tide per 24hrs
Semidiurnal = 2 high/low per 24hrs