Lab #4: Ocean Dynamics

Part B: 1. The winter of 1984-85 was particularly cold in Europe. The northern part of the Black Sea, which lies between the Ukraine, Russia, and Turkey, froze, which is rare in the normally mild climate. The Adriatic Sea, located to the east, had just as cold a winter but never froze. The Black Sea has an unusually low salinity of about 18o/oo. What would you guess about the salinity of the Adriatic? The salinity of the Adriatic Sea has to be higher. It actually varies between 38-39o/oo in the south, to 33-25o/oo in the north. 3. If you owned a seaside home and a bad storm brought heavy winds and high surf to your coastline, would you prefer it to be during new moon or a quarter moon? Why? A storm during a quarter moon would be less destructive because tidal range is at its lowest. The highest tides are observed during new and full moons. A storm during these periods would be more destructive since storms cause tides that are higher than predicted tides.

Part C: 1) 2) 3)

4) Explain wave formation and wave types. Wind and storms at sea form pressure differences on the ocean surface and contribute to the creation of swells. These undulations travel thousands of miles and gather together to form swells. The size of swells is determined by three factors: How hard the wind blows (Velocity). The length of time it blows (Duration). The distance it blows (Fetch). Generally speaking, if any of these factors increases, larger waves will be produced. As swells begin to move out and away from where they were created, their crests become more rounded and take on a similar period and height, and more regularized the further they travel. As the swell approaches land and the sea bottom gets shallower, the waves become higher and narrower, and the distance between each wave becomes shorter. The wave continues to increase in height until it collapses and topples over. This is called surf. Wave Types: Spilling Wave This wave occurs when the top of the wave tumbles down the face of the wave. These waves are good for swimmers and board riders. Dumper This wave breaks with tremendous force and can easily throw a swimmer to the bottom. It usually occurs where there is a steep incline of the sea floor causing the wave height to increase quickly and dump. Shorebreak This is a dumper that breaks on a steep beach face. Serious injuries can result when such waves throw swimmers violently onto the sand. Surging Wave This wave may never actually break. This is because the water is very deep beneath the wave. These waves are common around rocks and can knock people off their feet and carry them back into deep water.

5) Name different types of natural and manmade breakers. Jetty, groyne, bulkhead, beach wall, ports, and harbors. 6) What is a long shore current? Discuss its role in inlet closure and westward growth of barrier islands. The resultant current produced by waves being deflected at an angle by the shore. Also called littoral current. In this case the current runs roughly parallel to the shoreline. The longshore current is capable of carrying a certain amount of material as long as its velocity remains fairly constant; however, any obstruction, such as a breaker or a land point cutting across the path of the current will cause loss of velocity and consequent loss of carrying power. If the path of the long shore current isnt obstructed, it has the ability to carry large amounts of sand/sediment to open inlets along the shore, filling them in the process. One way to prevent this is by building a jetty on one side of the inlet, deflecting the longshore current and the sand it carries past the inlet opening. The westward growth of barrier islands is also due to longshore current. The current transports large amounts of sand to the end of the barrier island, depositing it as it passes. This process occurs over and over, continuously adding sand to the end of the barrier island increasing its length as long as it remains unobstructed. 7) What is the rate of beach erosion at Montauk, Smith Point and Robert Moses State Park? Montauk 1 ft/yr Smith Point 1.2 ft/yr Robert Moses 1.6 ft/yr