why does waves move towards the beach, and not “outwards” or “sidewards”?
In: Earth Science
Think of waves like giant ripples. You throw a pebble into a lake and the ripples start there and move outward,towards the shore. Now instead of a pebble in a lake the disturbances in the oceans are caused by storms, tectonic shifts and also moon gravity (tides).
Now you have giant ripples(waves). They don’t look like waves way out in the middle of the ocean, but once they get close to shore, the land drops off quickly and there’s sometimes rocks or reefs closer to shore, the sudden rise in the ocean floor will cause the waves to crest and break.
It is possible for these ripples (often called swells) to come to shore from directions that aren’t always perpendicular, though it’s often the case that even if they’re not straight-on it may appear close enough despite being slightly angled just because the scale is so large. With strong lateral currents and swells coming at off angles, it’s possible to see nearly sideways waves, but it’s not common, and will usually only show up in stormier conditions, likely with “regular” waves coming head on colliding with the ones coming at an angle.
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