Killing waves often lead to catastrophic events such as ship failures or even casualties. Oil platforms were also damaged by such waves. Many note that such waves appear for no reason. As a physicist-oceanologist, VIAV Gaponov-Grekhov RAS, Professor of the Department of Basic Mathematics at the National Research University Higher School of Economics Alexei Slyunyaev, such waves differ from ordinary waves in their height – they are significantly higher than the average wave.
“The height of a wave is the vertical distance from the lowest point of its trough to the highest point of the adjacent crest. If we determine the average value of many waves, then waves that are twice the average or higher are lethal waves,” explained Slyunyaev.
To him, lethal waves are one of the most unusual phenomena in the ocean. Although this event is rare, it does happen regularly.
“If you take a boat to the open sea, then on average every 8 hours a deadly wave will pass you by. However, they can be of different heights. If there is a calm sea with an average wave height of 20 centimeters, then the “killer” will be 40 centimeters. However, it will be twice the average. When the medium waves are already high, the killer waves become dangerous, ”the oceanologist stressed.
Among the conditions under which lethal waves can occur, scientists identify a rapid change in wave propagation conditions: a sudden change in wind, currents, depth.
“Ordinary sea waves do not flow in a chosen direction, but immediately in a certain range of directions, and this range is quite wide. If for some reason it narrows, the probability of a lethal wave will increase. The question of how often favorable conditions are achieved in the real sea and, accordingly, which of the proposed mechanisms are important and which are too exotic, remains unanswered,” concluded Slyunyaev.
For more information on internal waves that can cover the entire water column, what types of tsunamis exist, under what conditions they can occur on the Moskva River, and how the weather affects the probability of dangerous waves, see. report “socialbites.ca”.