Construct · 1 fields · 1 citations

undertow: a standalone construct

One name. One construct. A landmark on the map.

● anchor · one construct, one field Nearest construct by meaning·not indexed
undertow1 CONSTRUCTUndertowSVENDSEN · RETURN FLOW

A single standalone construct; nearby constructs are located against it in the Collider. Tap a field for its definition, unit, and measures.

Coastal science

A seaward flow near the bed under breaking waves

The undertow is the steady, offshore-directed current near the sea bed inside the surf zone that compensates for the shoreward mass of water carried toward the beach by breaking waves above. Svendsen's 1984 Mass flux and undertow in a surf zone derived it from the balance between the onshore flux in the roller of a breaking wave and the return flow underneath. The referent is a depth-varying mean current measured in the surf zone, not the popular image of a surface "pull" out to sea; that layman's meaning more often describes a rip current.[1]

Unit
The mean offshore-directed current speed near the bed in the surf zone
Recovery means
Not applicable
Measured by
Measured as the time-averaged cross-shore current profile below trough level, balancing the shoreward mass flux of breaking waves

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Nearby constructs

rip current1 fields · 1 citationsanchor · one construct, one fieldsignificant wave height1 fields · 1 citationsanchor · one construct, one fieldbalance4 fields · 5 citationsjingle · one word, four constructs

References

  1. Svendsen, I. A. (1984). Mass flux and undertow in a surf zone. Coastal Engineering, 8(4), 347–365. https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-3839(84)90030-9

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