Gravity waves

Posted on October 12, 2007 | Comments Off on Gravity waves

A Texas scientist I know has a sloop on Lake Travis named "Gravity Wave," which is handily explained here, but the link and this post is about another, much larger kind of gravity wave called an "undular bore." Stupid name, but an impressive event, as a train of thunderstorms recently spawned four gravity waves rolling through the atmosphere over Des Moines, Iowa.

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0 responses to “Gravity waves”

  1. jdallen's avatar jdallen | October 12, 2007 at 3:06 pm |

    I’ve asked about this over at my place, but I don’t remember any answer, if there was one or even more than one.
    Is the atmosphere like the ocean? Waves (normal ones, anyhow) move through the ocean, but the actual water pretty much stays where it is, just moving up and down in the same general place.

  2. jdallen's avatar jdallen | October 12, 2007 at 3:06 pm |

    I’ve asked about this over at my place, but I don’t remember any answer, if there was one or even more than one.
    Is the atmosphere like the ocean? Waves (normal ones, anyhow) move through the ocean, but the actual water pretty much stays where it is, just moving up and down in the same general place.

  3. Dick Stanley's avatar Dick Stanley | October 12, 2007 at 4:42 pm |

    The truth is I don’t know the answer. When things calm down a little here at the rancho, where we’re having a little second grade misbehavior, I’ll do a search on it. But I think, for what it’s worth, that you have a misconception about the water staying in one place. I don’t think it does. Even underwater, there are waves. The El Nino phenom, for instance, involves deep waves moving east and west, distributing the warmth. Likewise the cold bottom water wells up and displaces the warm water at the top. So I think the water, like the atmosphere, is constantly changing. That’s my two cents for now.

  4. Dick Stanley's avatar Dick Stanley | October 12, 2007 at 4:42 pm |

    The truth is I don’t know the answer. When things calm down a little here at the rancho, where we’re having a little second grade misbehavior, I’ll do a search on it. But I think, for what it’s worth, that you have a misconception about the water staying in one place. I don’t think it does. Even underwater, there are waves. The El Nino phenom, for instance, involves deep waves moving east and west, distributing the warmth. Likewise the cold bottom water wells up and displaces the warm water at the top. So I think the water, like the atmosphere, is constantly changing. That’s my two cents for now.