wave action
Sea's constant churning
Wave action is the physical force and movement of waves, especially ocean waves striking a shoreline.
The term appears in geology, coastal engineering, and environmental science to describe how waves erode cliffs, shape beaches, and move sediment: Wave action carved the sea caves over millennia.
It encompasses the cumulative mechanical work that waves perform on coastlines and structures.
- crashing wavesSurf hitting the shore
- swashWater flowing over ground
- shore breakWaves breaking near land
- erosionGradual wearing away
- breakwaterCoastal wave-blocking structure
rolling surf · high tide · whitecap · ocean spray · coastal erosion · beach · oscillation · amplitude · rip current · fluid dynamics · crest · backwash · wavelength · trough · frequency · diffraction · interference · tidal currents
- coastal managementcoastal erosion, coastal wetlands, sea level rise, seawalls, coastal flooding
- coastscliffs, shoreline, sandy shore, coves, bays
- Ocean Phenomenatsunami, tides, ocean current, swells, whirlpool
- rocky coastlinesea cliffs, rocky shore, tide pools, sea caves, crashing waves
- Earth processesplate tectonics, erosion, weathering, volcanism, sedimentation
- coastal habitatsshoreline, shorelines, tidal flat, coastline, mudflat
water surface dynamics
wave actionstill water
Water not flowing
stillness · dead calm · quiescence · slack water · motionlessness