Question for an Oceanographer or Geologist
They say if you ask enough people, eventually you’ll get an answer. Running with that idea, I’ll ask the vast ‘ones’ of people who maybe read this blog.
What, ultimately, causes waves in the ocean?
Certainly plate tectonics and earthquakes cause the occasional tsunami, or maybe sometimes just really big waves, and these reverberate back and forth across the ocean probably until nothing is left but a ripple. But these are rare occurrences.
Wind causes waves too, but these are only on the surface.
There’s also convection currents. Heated water rising, cooling water sinking. That’s gotta make waves.
The great ocean currents, like the gulf steam, probably make waves too.
I’d bet the Coriolis force -- the way water and air slosh around in response to the rotation of the Earth -- causes waves too.
Is the Coriolis force what ultimately creates waves, or is it something else? Is the Coriolis force also responsible for ocean currents?