SUMMARY: The Motion of Water Particles Beneath

Waves

Wave Motion with Depth

Orbits of Water Particles

• Wave base is the depth to which a surface
wave can move water.

• If the water is deeper than wave base:

– orbits are circular
– there is no interaction between the bottom and the
wave

• If the water is shallower than wave base:

– orbits are elliptical
– Orbits become increasingly flattened towards the
bottom
The Distortion of Water-Particle Orbits in
Shallow Water
• Celerity is the velocity of the wave form, not
of the water, C=L/T

• The celerity of a group of waves all traveling

at the same speed in the same direction is
less than the speed of individual waves
within the group, Cg=nC
Wave Transformations

Deep-Water Wave
Transformations

Shallow-Water Waves in
Profile
• Dispersion refers to the sorting of waves of
different sizes with time. If wave speeds are
dependent on the wavenumber (e.g., deep-
water Airy waves), the wave-field is said to be
dispersive.
• If the wave speed is independent of
wavenumber (e.g., shallow-water Airy
waves), the wave-field is non-dispersive.
• Dispersive sinusoidal waves
• In normal dispersion, c increases with L, ie the crests of long waves travel
faster than the crests of short waves. As a consequence cg < c, ie energy
travels slower than the wave crests. This occurs with gravity waves in
intermediate water depths
Deep water wave speed
(short waves; depth is larger than 1/2 of the wavelength) cg = c / 2 (normal
dispersion)
Nondispersive waves
Here, cg = c, ie all wave crests travel at the same speed, and energy
propagates at the same speed. Shallow water wave speed
(long waves; depth is less than 1/20 of the wavelength) cg = c
(nondispersive waves)
Wave steepness is a ratio of wave height
divided by wavelength (H/L)

• wave height increases, as depth

decreases
• wave length decreases, as depth
decreases
• When H/L  1/7, the wave becomes
unstable and breaks.
Wave Transformation
 Wave Transformation
Waves break on the shore because they run out of
room and all of their energy crashes in.
WAVE TRANSFORMATIONS
WAVE TRANSFORMATIONS

➢Shoaling
➢Refraction
➢Diffraction
➢Reflection
 WAVE SHOALING
Consider only effect of shoaling, so that waves are
approaching in a perpendicular direction to shoreline from
deep water. B=Bo=constant

Deep water

Crest lines//bottom
contour
d
We can use our energy theory to apply to waves shoaling – moving into
gradually decreasing water depths. Initially we consider the situation where a
regular wave train moves so that the wave crests are parallel to the depth
contours. This implies that here the energy contained within a certain width in
deep water remains within the same width in shallow water.

▪ Bottom contours are parallel to crest lines

Last column of GWT
Given as function of
d/Lo or d/L
Only for shoaling
WAVE REFRACTION

Water waves travel faster on the surface of

deep water than they do on shallow water.
The change in speed of the wave will cause
refraction.
 Wave Refraction
• Waves rarely approach shore at a
perfect 90 degree angle.
• As waves approach shore, they bend so
wave crests are nearly parallel to shore.
• Wave speed is proportional to the depth
of water (shallow-water wave).
• Different segments of the wave crest
travel at different speeds.
 Wave Refraction

• Shoaling waves bend so wave fronts

approach a shore nearly parallel
 Shoreline

Wave orthogonals 
(rays)

o
Bottom contours Wave crest line n n:Normal of
bottom contours
:Approach angle
 Wave Refraction
• Wave energy
focused on
headland
• Wave energy
dispersed over
bay
 Wave Refraction
• Gradually erodes
headlands
• Sediment
accumulates in bays
A cartoon showing how water waves refract
towards shallow water.
A cartoon showing how water waves refract to erode headlands into arches and
seastacks. As deep water waves approach the land, the shallow water around the
headlands acts to concentrate the waves and their energy at the points,
heightening erosion at the tips of the headlands. The energy of the waves that
reaches the sandy coves is thus reduced, so that wave erosion isn’t so strong.
The average energy flux
 Bo
Orthogonal spacing ratio must be determined from
B
refraction analysis.
H C n Bo
 o o
Ho Cn B

H C o 0.5 B o

Ho Cn B

H 1
K s K r
Ho 2

Refraction causes a convergence of orthogonals over the submerged

ridge (point 1), resulting in higher waves that break.
Over the submerged trough (point 2), wave heights are lower than
they would be over the ridge and can actually be much lower than
the deep water wave height (if the effect of refraction in lowering the
wave height is greater than the increase in wave height due to
shoaling effect
Wave approach angle  is the angle between the wave
orthogonal and normal of the bottom contour or the angle
between wave crest line and the bottom contour.
 If in a wave train of waves propagating over a step
where the water depth instantaneously decreases from
d1 to d2, this causes the wave celerity and length to
decrease. For an orthogonal spacing x and a time
interval T,
C1T L1
sin 1  
x x
C 2T L 2
sin  2  
x x
SNELL’S LAW

sin 1 C1 L1
 
sin  2 C 2 L 2
 sin  o sin  1 1  L 
  sin  sin  o 
Lo L x  Lo 
If we choose Bo and B so that the orthogonal lengths
are equal to Lo and L, then

Bo B
 x
cos o cos

Bo cos o
Kr   Refraction coefficient
B cos
 Water waves travel
slower in shallower
water.

Again the wavelength of the

wave changes as the speed
changes. The slower the
speed of the wave the
shorter its wavelength will
be. This keeps the frequency
the same.
• The change in speed has changed
the direction of the wave.
The slower wave in the shallow water
has a smaller wavelength
• The amount of refraction increases
as the change in speed increases
• Segments A and B at position 1 in the figure
below are in deep water and are unchanged.

• By the time they have reached position 3, A has

slowed down and shortened its wavelength. It
therefore lags behind B which is still unchanged.
•

The following photograph shows the refraction of waves from above as they approach the shoreline.
• By the time the wave reaches position 5, A
is about to break on the headland while B
is advancing more slowly into the bay.

• The end result is that the crests try to

conform to the outline of the shore and to
break parallel to it.

The following photograph shows the refraction of waves from above as they approach the shoreline.
• Segments A and B in deep water were the
same width.
• The orthogonals which are drawn at right
angles to the crests from the ends of
segments A and B show that the length of
A is shortened by about 20 percent at its
breaking point (position 5), and B is
lengthened to more than twice its deep
water value at its breaking point.

The following photograph shows the refraction of waves from above as they approach the shoreline.
• This means that the wave energy in
segment A is concentrated onto the
headland which causes wave height to
increase in addition to the wave
heightening caused by the shallowing of
the water.
• Thus, since wave energy is proportional to
wave height, the power of the waves is
greater on the headland.
• In the bay, wave height is less since the
energy of segment
The following photograph Bwaves
shows the refraction of isfrom
spread out.the shoreline.
above as they approach
• As a result, headlands are usually sites of
intense erosion while embayments are
usually sites of sediment deposition.
• Given enough time wave erosion will tend
to create a smooth coastline

The following photograph shows the refraction of waves from above as they approach the shoreline.
Wave Refraction and Orthogonals
Shallow
water Shallow
water
Shallow
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water

wave
Shallow
water Shallow
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wave
Shallow
water Shallow
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Shallow
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Shallow
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Shallow
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Shallow
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Shallow
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Shallow
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Shallow
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Shallow
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Shallow
water Shallow
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wave
Known: T and H1
Asked: H2
EXAMPLE PROBLEM G Ks

n=(1+G)/2

0.36
 HOMEWORK
1)

2)