Big Waves profile

Mavericks

Mavericks is a surfing location in Northern California, U.S.A.. It is located approximately 3.2 km off shore in Pillar Point Harbor just north of Half Moon Bay. After a strong winter storm in the northern Pacific Ocean, waves can routinely crest at 8m high and top out at over 24.4m. The break is caused by an unusually-shaped underwater rock configuration.

Mavericks is shown below:

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Mavericks is famous for extremely large waves. In a recent study, conducted by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in 2007, results revealed that a long, sloping ramp leads up to the surface under the wavebreak, and because of this ramp slows the movement of the wave over it. The wave over the deep water troughs on each side of the ramp continues at incredible speeds, forming two angles in the wavefront centered over each of the boundaries between the ramp and the two troughs. This turns the waves into an almost 'U' or 'V'-shaped wavefront on the ramp that contains the wave energy from the full width of the ramp. This U or V-shaped wave then collapses with extreme force.

As seen above, you can see how the winds and the tide gradually get faster and stronger as they come into the shore. These tides and winds are a huge ingredient in the creation of these incredible waves.

The end result is the creation of incredible waves that are visited by hundreds to thousands of people annually. 

7.2

1. The wind is what causes waves. At first it starts with ripples, then those form wavelets and then waves.
2. The distance the wind travels over the ocean to form waves it known as fetch.
3. Waves in the open ocean don't break because they are higher up on the ocean seabed, but when they reach the shore they release there energy and break.
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6. Spilling waves are waves that break far from the beaches, meaning that body boarders can body board because they are safe from hitting anyone. Plunging waves are waves that break on the beach creating barrels. And surging waves are waves that just wash up, there are no breaks and its just a gental wave that rolls up the beach, creating erosion.
7. Wind swells are when the wind hits the water and greats waves that are close to the shore. These waves occur more frequently because they are close to the shore. Ground waves are a lot less frequent and occur way out in the ocean, creating bigger waves.
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9. There are three types of waves that you must look out for, so if you want to find the best ones, you need to know what ones you like. There are spilling waves, which break on the shores, best for body boarding and swimming. Plunging waves, which are the best for surfers because there are barrels. And then there's surging waves which are flat waves which no breaks.

7.1

1. The pressure of urban development along the coastline has caused a range of geographical issues involving various groups. Residents, tourists and commercial-related activities all need to be managed by geographers so that the development of the coastline is sustainable.
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3. The trend that has been labeled 'Sea Change' is were people have decided to move from larger cities to populate smaller coastal towns.
4. The government has put a cap on the amount of people who can populate certain coastal areas.
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   - Pollution;
   - Tourism;
   - Introduction;
   - Inappropriate develop;
   
6. geographers are the developers of these management solutions for the issues plaguing our coastal environments.
7. My name is Campbell Fisher and I have just moved into the new beach front apartments on the coast. I have loved my time here and love the view, but that was what I wanted to talk about, the view. I have seen the people in town look at my apartment blocks with anger and frustration, I realized that they feel as if these apartments should not be here and unfortunately I feel the same way. I find two problems with these apartments, the risks of living so close to the beach with global warming and seas rising, also the surface these buildings are over. If they are so close to the beach, they cannot be stable. I would very much appreciate it if you would post my comments in your next addition of your morning paper.  Kind regards, Campbell.