Posted on 04/19/2007 7:42:14 PM PDT by blam
Map reveals secret of awesome Mavericks waves
17:27 19 April 2007
NewScientist.com news service
Phil McKenna
Seafloor map showing a long narrow ramp leading up to the Mavericks break (in black box) off Half Moon Bay in Central California. Blue = deep water, Red = shallow water, White = break zone (Image: Seafloor Mapping Lab, California State University, Monterey Bay)
Rikk Kvitek, director of the Seafloor Mapping Lab at California State University-Monterey Bay Center for Habitat Studies at Moss Landing Marine Labs California Coast State Waters Mapping Project Images of the seafloor at Mavericks The magnificent waves in Half Moon Bay off the coast of California, known as the Mavericks, are famous among surfers the world over. Now geologists mapping the ocean floor have revealed the secret of the 15-metre-high waves.
Researchers at the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have released detailed three-dimensional images of California’s central coast seafloor as part of an ongoing state-funded mapping project. The new data, which was collected by bouncing sound and light off the ocean floor, reveal a long narrow ramp of seafloor gradually increasing in elevation.
“As soon as I saw that gradual ramping from deep to shallow water, it was, like, wow! That’s why Mavericks happen,” says Rikk Kvitek, director of the Seafloor Mapping Lab at California State University in Monterey Bay. “I’ve done an awful lot of seafloor mapping and I’ve never seen geology like that before.”
Wave face
As waves get close to shore, their base begins to run into the seafloor, slowing the deeper parts of the wave. The shallower part of the wave keeps moving at the same pace,
(Excerpt) Read more at newscientist.com ...
When I first scanned this, I thought it was about the awesome Dallas basketball team! :-)
Then I thought, Hey! I’ve been to Half Moon Bay and actually might have witnessed a maverick wave! Kewl! :-)
Cowabunga!
That’s boss, man.
Mavericks is the name of the surf break...DUDE!
Gnarly dude! Waves break in shallow water! What an awesome discovery!
BTW, the graphic is mislabled. The topo is overlaid over a nautical chart - chart 18682 Half Moon Bay. The white area does not denote the break area. It actually denotes deeper water.
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“Riding Giants” has a great sequence about Mavericks and Jeff Clark (the first guy to surf it)...
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4417330245501589186&q=riding+giants&hl=en
Even us hodads can appreciate this. Rock on!
This is the best I could do to find a Mavericks wave without those pesky surfers on it:
The biggest waves I've seen in person were 8-9 footers. I'd love to see a set of these superstars.
Great pictures, thanks.
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