50 



WAVES 



sea surface is strongest and most complex with high winds and a 

 rough sea, anyone looking out over the water can soon convince him- 

 self that the wave pattern is not only irregular, but always constantly 

 changing, even when sea and wind are moderate. It is only 

 in cases of old developed swells and in moderately calm weather that 

 wave crests are well-rounded and that they tend to extend far side- 

 wise across the surface of the sea. And even then, other waves of 



Figire 16. — Surface configuration of the hack of a storm wave 27 feet high, based 

 on stereophotogrammetric pictures taken on the afternoon of the same day. and 

 at about the same locality, as those on which figure 15 is based. Contour lines 

 are in feet. (Adapted from Schumacher.) 



