68. How much power (energy) is in a wave? 



The kinetic energy in waves is tremendous. A 4-foot, 10-second 

 wave striking a coast expehds more than 35,000 horsepower per mile 

 of coast. 



The power of waves can best be visualized by viewing the damage 

 they cause. On the coast of Scotland, a block of cemented stone 

 weighing 1,350 tons was broken loose and moved by waves. Five years 

 later the replacement pier, weighing 2,600 tons, was carried away. 

 Engineers have measured the force of breakers along this coast of 

 Scotland at 6,000 pounds per square foot. 



Off the coast of Oregon, the roof of a lighthouse 91 feet above low 

 water was damaged by a rock weighing 135 pounds. 



An attempt has been made to harness the energy of waves along the 

 Algerian coast. Waves are funneled through a V-shaped concrete struc- 

 ture into a reservoir. The water flowing out of the reservoir operates a 

 turbine which generates power. 



Bowditch, Nathaniel 



American Practical Navigator, U. S. Naval Oceanographic Office, 



1958. 

 Deacon, G. E. R. (Ed.) 



Seas, Maps, and Men, Doubieday and Company, 1962. 

 Williams, Jerome 



Oceanography, An Introduction to the Marine Sciences, Little, 



Brown and Company, 1962. 



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