wHAT CAUSES THE WAVES IN THE OCEAN?

Wind. As wind passes over the water's surface, friction forces it to ripple. The strength of the wind, the distance the wind blows (fetch) and the length of the gust (duration) determine how big the ripples will become.

Earthquakes and ships also create waves.

The sun and moon creates two types of tides, high and low!

A simple little question, but WOW!, is the answer complex.

Will agree, the simplest answer is that the waves (as we see them or experience them from the shore or from a boat) are indeed caused by wind.

Now for the complex portion. When studying waves, and wave motion, there is not just one cause, but many.

In order to appreciate wave theory, one has to be well versed in both mathematics and classical physics. Each cause has a different influence and effect. A wave is the propagation of motion of energy through a medium. In this case, ocean water. Some examples of waves in the ocean other than wind (surface waves) are. Gravitational (the tides are the result of this), sound, thermal, geothermal, electromagnetic geologic or seismic (tsunami is an example) caused by earthquakes or under ocean volcanic eruptions, cause other types of waves that also propagate at different levels within the ocean and travel at different speeds with (as we know) dramatically different results.

And this list goes on. The different waves are all there, just not as apparent.

The winds cause waves on the surface of the ocean (and on lakes). The wind transfers some of its energy to the water, through friction between the air molecules and the water molecules. Stronger winds (like storm surges) cause larger waves. You can make your own miniature waves by blowing across the surface of a pan of water.

Waves of water do not move horizontally, they only move up and down (a wave does not represent a flow of water). You can see a demonstration of this by watching a floating buoy bob up and down with a wave; it does not, however, move horizontally with the wave.

Tsunamis (sometimes called tidal waves) are different from surface waves; they are usually caused by underwater earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, or landslides

Hokusai: The Great Wave Off Kanagawa

Katsushika Hokusai (September 23, 1760-April 18, 1849) was a Japanese painter and printmaker from the Edo Period. He is most famous for his series of prints called "Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji" (produced during the period 1826-1833).

Most waves are caused by a steady wind blowing on open sea.Out at sea, waves tend to to travel in the same direction as the wind is blowing.But when they come near the shore, they strike the shore parallel to shoreline irrespective of the wind direction. This is due to the diffraction and refraction of the swells when they enter the shallow water near the shore where the swells encounter the shelving sea floor beneath it.

Waves usually result from wind or geologic effects and may travel thousands of miles before striking land. They range in size from small ripples to huge tsunamis. There is little actual forward motion of individual water particles in a wave, despite the large amount of energy and momentum it may carry forward.

WIND......... For all intents and purposes..... Somebody will try to make it more complex but 99.9% of all waves come from wind.

Tsunamis are'nt ocean waves. You can't even see them until they approach shore.

No wind, no waves. Look at the doldrums.

..

The gravitational tension of the earth and the gravitational tension of the moon reason maximum ocean waves. additionally, it relies upon basically the climate circumstances, tension alterations temperature alterations and so on.

Gravity, the wind and the moon.