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Rough sea foam

1992; American Physical Society; Volume: 69; Issue: 8 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1103/physrevlett.69.1149

1092-0145

Alan C. Newell, В. Е. Захаров,

Aeolian processes and effects

A simple theory is developed for rough seas in which the energy cascade towards small scales is too much for a surface tension dominated wrinkling of the surface to handle. We suggest that a new phase, consisting of an air-water foam, is created and becomes the principal medium for energy dissipation. The foam depth and droplet size are calculated and we suggest how the predicted dependence on energy flux and surface tension could be verified experimentally.