Today's useless fact - How are waves formed in the ocean?

Waves are formed in three ways, gravity, wind and earthquakes. Gravity is responsible for the high and low tides. High tide is when the water is the deepest and low tide is when the water is most shallow. The rise and fall of the water level causes waves to form.

The second cause of waves is wind. The wind can be light and only cause small waves. These waves can be as tiny as ripples in the water. Young children can practice making waves by blowing on a bowl full of water.

Wind can also cause very large waves that make being in the water very dangerous. Even large ships don't want to be caught in a storm with huge waves.

The type of wave wind causes depends on how hard the wind is blowing, how long the wind blows and how much ocean the wind blows over.

Lastly, waves can be caused by earthquakes. Earthquakes are the result of two of the earth’s plates rubbing together. Just as we stumble or fall during an earthquake, water also reacts to the power force. The earthquake pushes the water away from the epicenter of the quake and can cause some pretty large waves.