Monster Waves Tracked Deep Beneath the Ocean Surface

First Posted: Jul 22, 2015 10:05 AM EDT

Scientists have taken a closer look at monster waves in the South China Sea. Now, they've found out a little bit more about these skyscraper-high waves, which rarely break the ocean surface and instead move and dissipate underwater.

These waves are known as internal waves, and they occur in oceans across the world in addition to in lakes and fjords. In the Luzon Strait, which is between Taiwan and the Philippine island of Luzon, these waves can reach up to 558 feet tall and travel several hundred kilometers. This makes them some of the largest waves in the world.

In this latest study, the researchers used satellite images to detect and track the waves from above. In the end, they found that internal waves are generated daily from internal tides, which also occur below the ocean surface, and grow larger as the water is pushed westward through the Luzon Strait into the South China Sea.

"The internal wave produces a current that organizes the ripples on the surface, which are picked up by the radar satellite," said Hans Graber, co-author of the new study, in a news release. "This allows us to study how these waves, which largely go unnoticed at the surface, propagate and move."

Tracking internal waves from start to finish helps scientists understand these waves for a number of reasons. They move huge volumes of heat, salt and nutrient rich water. This is important for fish, fishing operations and global climate. In other words, understanding these waves is crucial for better assessing climate conditions and anything occurring beneath the waves of our world's oceans.

The findings are published in the journal Nature.