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Breaking wave How do waves reshape coasts?

Follow wind-generated waves from offshore swell through breaking, sediment transport, storms, dunes, and coastal planning.

lessons

~10 min

to learn

🔬 Science

subject

Adults

level

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What you’ll learn

Waves carry energy to shoreExplain how wind-generated waves transform as they cross the ocean and enter shallow water.Wave energy, period, depth, and seafloor shape determine how waves arrive at a coast.
Breaking waves move sedimentTrace breaking waves, swash, longshore drift, storms, and dunes through beach change.Breaking converts wave energy into currents and sediment transport that can build or erode beaches.
Coasts respond as connected systemsConnect barriers, sediment plumes, human structures, and evidence-based shoreline planning.Coasts move as linked systems, so local changes can redistribute risk and sediment elsewhere.

Questions this course answers

Why can the same incoming swell affect a headland and a nearby bay differently?

As waves enter changing depths, parts of the crest slow at different rates and bend. That refraction can focus energy on headlands and spread it through bays.

Put this coastal transport sequence in a sensible order

Wind supplies the original energy, shallow water transforms it, breaking creates swash and currents, and repeated transport changes the beach shape.

Why can a structure that protects one beach section increase erosion nearby?

Beach sediment moves through a connected system. A local intervention changes the flow of both waves and grains, so its effects can extend beyond the protected frontage.

Grounded in trusted sources

U.S. Geological Survey, Coastal Erosion https://www.usgs.gov/node/26771
U.S. Geological Survey, Coasts in Crisis: Coastal Change https://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/c1075/change.html
U.S. Geological Survey, An Overview of Coastal Land Loss: Waves, Currents, and Storm Surges https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2003/of03-337/waves.html
U.S. Geological Survey, Coastal Change Hazards https://www.usgs.gov/special-topics/hurricanes/science/coastal-change-hazards
U.S. Geological Survey, Integration of Processes over Different Spatial and Temporal Scales https://www.usgs.gov/programs/coastal-and-marine-hazards-and-resources-program/science/integration-processes-over

Every Wunder lesson is built from real, reputable sources — never invented.

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