A new study challenges the theory that modulational instability is the cause of the wavens, which swallow integer ships suddenly.
For centuries, the stories of the sailors spoke of monstrous waves that came out of nowhere, so high that swallowing whole ships. Most were discarded as exaggeration, the result of tired looks and fantastic stories from the high seas. In the nineteenth century, scientists even declared such impossible “wanders”, insisting that the ocean could not produce waves over 9 meters high.
This skepticism collapsed on January 1, 1995, when a 26 -meter -high water wall reached the Drapner oil platform in the northern Norway sea. The event, known as “onnda de Draupner“It provided the first concrete evidence that these giant waves were real and much more dangerous than thought.
Almost three decades later, investigators claim to have finally unveiled the mystery of how these monsters are formed. In a new published in Nature Scientific Reports, a team led by Francesco Fedele, from Georgia Tech, analyzed 18 years of ocean wave data With more than 27,000 records in total and discovered revenue behind these bizarre events.
“Gigantic waves follow the natural orders of the ocean – they are no exceptions to them,” Fedele explained. “They are extreme, but they are explainable.”
The study challenges longtime theory that modulational instability, which refers to small wave irregularities that grow through nonlinear interactions, is the main factor that causes gigantic waves. This process works well in laboratory tanks, said Fedele, where energy moves only in one direction. But the Open Ocean is much more complex.
Instead, the researchers found that gigantic waves arise from two combined effects. The first is the linear focuswhen waves traveling at different speeds and directions align at the same time, accumulating in a single imposing crest. The second is the non -linearities linkednatural distortions that exaggerate the height of a wave up to 20%. Together, these processes explain how the ocean can suddenly produce destructive giant waves.
The findings are more than a scientific curiosity. They have urgent implications for maritime safety, coastal engineering and offshore infrastructures. “Ship navigation, coastal structures and oil platforms need to be designed to support these extreme events“, He said faithful.
The team now works to integrate their results in forecast models, with the potential to use automatic learning to predict giant waves before they go.
