breaker
A sea-surface wave that has become so
steep (wave steepness of 1/7 ) that the crest outraces the body
of the wave and it collapses into a turbulent mass on shore or
over a reef. Breaking usually occurs when the water depth is
less than 1.28 times the wave height. Roughly,three kinds of
breakers can be distinguished, depending primarily on the
gradient of the bottom:
(a) spilling breakers (over nearly flat bottom) which form a foamy
patch at the crest and break gradually over a considerable
distance;
(b)
plunging breakers
(over fairly steep bottom gradient) which peak up, curl over
with a tremendous overhanging mass and then break with a crash;
(c) surging breakers (over very
steep bottom gradients) which do not spill or plunge but surge
up the beach face. Waves also break in deep water if they build
too high while being generated by the wind, but these are
usually shortcrested and are termed
whitecaps.
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