SURFER'S PARADISE?Nearly 100 miles off the southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, coast lies Cortes Bank Coordinates: Cortes Bank is a chain of underwater mountains in the Pacific Ocean, about 100 miles (170 kilometers) west of San Diego, USA, and about 40 miles (65 kilometers) south-west of San Clemente Island. , home to some of Earth's wildest waves--and now the world's most fearless surfers. Last January, 31-year-old Peter Mel became one of just four surfers to master the massive swells some cresting crest·ing n. An ornamental ridge, as on top of a wall or roof. at 50 feet and ripping at 40 miles per hour! What makes for a monster wave--and how do you surf it? Pro surfer Peter Mel has spent a lifetime chasing killer waves: pounding 15-foot swells kicked up after sea storms. "My ultimate mission is always to surf bigger and faster waves," says the Santa Cruz, California Santa Cruz is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, California, United States. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, Santa Cruz had a total population of 54,593. native. When Mel heard about mammoth waves raging over Cortes Bank--a 17-mile-wide mountain range beneath the Pacific Ocean--he had to tackle them. "It's like being the first to walk on the moon--no one had ever done it before." For eight years Mel and oceanographer Sean Collins monitored the bank's daily-storm and wind patterns. "You want very calm, windless surfing conditions," says Mel. "That's extremely rare on Cortes Bank." Finally, last January 19, the day broke clear and sunny; the ocean swelled with smooth 50-foot waves spawned by stormy waters Stormy Waters may refer to:
OCEAN MOTION On surf day, wind is both friend and foe Friend and Foe is the third release from the Portland, Oregon-based band Menomena. It was released January 23, 2007 by Barsuk Records. The cover art is designed by Craig Thompson, writer and illustrator of the award-winning graphic novel Blankets. to the surfer. All waves--even those on Cortes Bank--begin as mere wind-blown ripples. How large waves mushroom depends on the strength and speed of the blowing winds as well as the particular water depth. How do waves travel? In deep oceans, winds cause water to rotate in small stationary circles called orbital paths, like rollers on a conveyor belt conveyor belt One of various devices that provide mechanized movement of material, as in a factory. Conveyor belts are used in industrial applications and also on large farms, in warehousing and freight-handling, and in movement of raw materials. . "A wave occurs when wind energy is transferred deep into the water," explains Collins. "The greater the wind energy, the bigger the swell." Waves bob up and down across the ocean, conveying kinetic (moving) energy from wave to wave--until some force slows the waves down and causes them to break. Waves heading to shore slowly lose speed as they move over the upward slope of the seabed. Shallow water See:
v. heaved, heav·ing, heaves v.tr. 1. To raise or lift, especially with great effort or force: heaved the box of books onto the table. See Synonyms at lift. upward until gravity (Earth's downward pull) forces their peaks to topple over. On the Cortes Bank, with depths up to 4,000 feet, no sloping seabed exists to hall wave motion (see diagram, left). Instead, swells tear along until they suddenly crash into the steep underwater mountain range. "It's like a mountain appears out of nowhere," Collins says. Bishop Rock--the range's summit--juts up steeply, forming a rocky reef three feet below the ocean surface. As the middle part of the swell rolls over Bishop Rock, friction (rubbing force) from the reef slows it down. But the wave's sides, explains Collins, race over deeper water, causing its energy to fold inward and upward. SWELL RIDE How does Mel catch a wave speeding faster than many cars? He gabs on to a tow rope attached to a high-speed jet ski Jet Ski A trademark used for a personal watercraft. jet ski Noun a small self-propelled vehicle resembling a scooter, which skims across water on a flat keel jet skiing n . Once he catches the wave's momentum (the mass of an object multiplied by its speed and direction), Mel likes off on his board. Perched on the wave's crest, he has five seconds to surf down the wave's sheer wall before it starts to collapse. a wave crashing on Cortes Bank generates enough power to light up Manhattan! Says Mel: "Now I'm wondering where to surf next." Did You Know? * There are three types of breaking waves: surging breakers, spilling breakers, and plunging breakers. Surging breakers occur where deep water spills onto steep beaches. Spilling breakers are produced where underwater topography slopes gradually away from shore. And plunging breakers--the most dynamic waves-- are created by offshore shoals. * Mammoth 50-foot waves occur when wind speeds rage over 30 knots (35 mph) and rip across a distance of open ocean greater than 600 nautical nau·ti·cal adj. Of, relating to, or characteristic of ships, shipping, sailors, or navigation on a body of water. [From Latin nauticus, from Greek nautikos, from miles. * Mid-ocean waves are considered deep-water waves, since the depth of the water they travel in is greater than half the distance between each wave crest The highest part of a wave. See also crest; wave. . Cross-Curricular Connection Geography: Research where on Earth the waves are the biggest--and plot them on a world map. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] National Science Education Standards The National Science Education Standards (NSES) are a set of guidelines for the science education in primary and secondary schools in the United States, as established by the National Research Council in 1996. Grades 5-8: motions and forces * transfer of energy * nature of science Grades 9-12: motions and forces * interactions of energy and matter * science as a human endeavor Resources The Book of Waves by Drew Kampion, Arpell Books, 1989 Dictionary of the Earth by John Farndon and Neil Ardley, Dorling Kindersley, 1994 "Let's Go Let's Go may refer to: Television
Directions: Read "Surfer's Paradise?" and then fill in the correct answers. 1. Mammoth waves near Cortes Bank are created by a -- beneath the Pacific. 2. All waves begin as --. 3. Waves travel in small stationary circles called --. 4. How large waves mushroom depends on the strength and speed of -- and --. 5. Mid-sea waves off the Cortes Bank surge up to -- high. 1. mountain range 2. windblown ripples 3. orbital paths 4. blowing winds, water depth 5. 50 feet [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] After reading "Surfer's Paradise?" on p. 18 and studying the diagram above, answer the following questions using complete sentences. 1. What and where is Cortes Bank? 2. Why do waves form? 3. How does wind energy affect ocean water? 4. Why are waves that form over Cortes Bank so large? 5. Why do midsea waves travel faster than shoreline? 6. What force causes waves to break? 7. How does surfer Peter Mel catch 40 mile-per-hour waves? 8. How do distant storms affect wave height? Why? 1. The Cortes Bank is an underwater mountain range in the Pacific Ocean, nearly 100 miles off the coast of California. 2. Waves form when wind energy is transferred deep into the water. 3. Wind energy causes water to move in small, circular motions In physics, circular motion is rotation along a circle: a circular path or a circular orbit. The rotation around a fixed axis of a three-dimensional body involves circular motion of its parts. called orbital paths. 4. When high-speed waves collide col·lide intr.v. col·lid·ed, col·lid·ing, col·lides 1. To come together with violent, direct impact. 2. with the Cortes Bank, their speed and direction shifts upward, creating huge swells. 5. Waves traveling near the shoreline are compressed and slowed down by the gradual slope of the seabed. In contrast, there is no seabed to slow down mid-sea waves. 6. The downward force of gravity causes waves to break. 7. To catch high-speed waves, Peter Mel is towed by a WaveRunner. 8. Distant storms create large, high-speed waves that can travel for days. |
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