"Cecil Moore" wrote
...
On Oct 14, 12:01 pm, "Szczepan Bialek" wrote:
Water molecules move mostly horizontally.
See:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stokes_drift

What percentage of water molecules are moving more horizontally than
vertically for what percentage of the time? That percentage is
certainly pretty small. Even for those normal steady-state waves, it
appears that the vertical motion at the surface is still greater than
the horizontal motion for at least half of the cycle.

Stokes measured the movements. They are shown the
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:De...ee_periods.gif

Each wave transports a mass. So the movements must be nonsymmetrical in in
direction of propagation.

*Anywhere except
at the very surface, the vertical motion is obviously greater than the
horizontal motion*. But the subject was a transient tsunami wave where
the horizontal motion is virtually non-existent because of inertia.

If the bottom of the ocean go up than the water is flowing outside this
place. It is a simple flow not a wave.
S*