Ocean Waves Energy, Movement, and the Coast

Waves are the forward movement of the oceans water due to the oscillation of water particles by the frictional drag of wind over the waters surface. Size of a Wave Waves have crests (the peak of the wave) and troughs (the lowest point on the wave). The wavelength, or horizontal size of the wave, is determined by the horizontal distance between two crests or two troughs. The vertical size of the wave is determined by the vertical distance between the two. Waves travel in groups called wave trains. Different Kinds of Waves Waves can vary in size and strength based on wind speed and friction on the waters surface or outside factors such as boats. The small wave trains created by a boat’s movement on the water are called wake. By contrast, high winds and storms can generate large groups of wave trains with enormous energy. In addition, undersea earthquakes or other sharp motions in the seafloor can sometimes generate enormous waves, called tsunamis (inappropriately known as tidal waves) that can devastate entire coastlines. Finally, regular patterns of smooth, rounded waves in the open ocean are called swells. Swells are defined as mature undulations of water in the open ocean after wave energy has left the wave generating region. Like other waves, swells can range in size from small ripples to large, flat-crested waves. Wave Energy and Movement When studying waves, it is important to note that while it appears the water is moving forward, only a small amount of water is actually moving. Instead, it is the wave’s energy that is moving and since water is a flexible medium for energy transfer, it looks like the water itself is moving. In the open ocean, the friction moving the waves generates energy within the water. This energy is then passed between water molecules in ripples called waves of transition. When the water molecules receive the energy, they move forward slightly and form a circular pattern. As the water’s energy moves forward toward the shore and the depth decreases, the diameter of these circular patterns also decreases. When the diameter decreases, the patterns become elliptical and the entire wave’s speed slows. Because waves move in groups, they continue arriving behind the first and all of the waves are forced closer together since they are now moving slower. They then grow in height and steepness. When the waves become too high relative to the water’s depth, the wave’s stability is undermined and the entire wave topples onto the beach forming a breaker. Breakers come in different types -- all of which are determined by the slope of the shoreline. Plunging breakers are caused by a steep bottom; and spilling breakers signify that the shoreline has a gentle, gradual slope. The exchange of energy between water molecules also makes the ocean crisscrossed with waves traveling in all directions. At times, these waves meet and their interaction is called interference, of which there are two types. The first occurs when the crests and troughs between two waves align and they combine. This causes a dramatic increase in wave height. Waves can also cancel each other out though when a crest meets a trough or vice-versa. Eventually, these waves do reach the beach and the differing size of breakers hitting the beach is caused by interference farther out in the ocean. Ocean Waves and the Coast Since ocean waves are one of the most powerful natural phenomena on Earth, they have a significant impact on the shape of the Earth’s coastlines. Generally, they straighten coastlines. Sometimes though, headlands composed of rocks resistant to erosion jut into the ocean and force waves to bend around them. When this happens, the wave’s energy is spread out over multiple areas and different sections of the coastline receive different amounts of energy and are thus shaped differently by waves. One of the most famous examples of ocean waves impacting the coastline is that of the longshore or littoral current. These are ocean currents created by waves that are refracted as they reach the shoreline. They are generated in the surf zone when the front end of the wave is pushed onshore and slows. The back of the wave, which is still in deeper water moves faster and flows parallel to the coast. As more water arrives, a new portion of the current is pushed onshore, creating a zigzag pattern in the direction of the waves coming in. Longshore currents are important to the shape of the coastline because they exist in the surf zone and work with waves hitting the shore. As such, they receive large amounts of sand and other sediment and transport it down the shore as they flow. This material is called longshore drift and is essential to the building up of many of the world’s beaches. The movement of sand, gravel, and sediment with longshore drift is known as deposition. This is just one type of deposition affecting the world’s coasts though, and have features formed entirely through this process. Depositional coastlines are found along areas with gentle relief and a lot of available sediment. Coastal landforms caused by deposition include barrier spits, bay barriers, lagoons, tombolos  and even beaches themselves. A barrier spit is a landform made up of material deposited in a long ridge extending away from the coast. These partially block the mouth of a bay, but if they continue to grow and cut off the bay from the ocean, it becomes a bay barrier. A lagoon is the water body that is cut off from the ocean by the barrier. A tombolo is the landform created when deposition connects the shoreline with islands or other features. In addition to deposition, erosion also creates many of the coastal features found today. Some of these include cliffs, wave-cut platforms, sea caves, and arches. Erosion can also act in removing sand and sediment from beaches, especially on those that have heavy wave action. These features make it clear that ocean waves have a tremendous impact on the shape of the Earth’s coastlines. Their ability to erode rock and carry material away also exhibits their power and begins to explain why they are an important component of the study of physical geography.

American Patriotism The Functionalist, Conflict, And...

American Patriotism can be defined in different ways. When people think of the word patriotism, most often say to love one s country. That is true in some aspect, but being patriotic means much more than that. In the words of Mark Twain, he states, â€Å"Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.† True patriotism is to support what s best for this country and contribute in ways to help that can be beneficial for everyone. However, to a socialist, patriotism can be viewed within three main perspectives: the functionalist, conflict, and symbolic interactionist perspective. A functionalist views society like one main living organism in which each part contributes to the survival of the whole. In other words, a functionalist perspective emphasizes how the parts of society are structured to maintain its stability. In this sociological approach, if an aspect of social life does not contribute to a society s stability or survival, it will not be passed on from one generation to the next. The media is one example of the functionalism that happens into society. Whatever news it may be, society needs the media to exist. It is a vital piece of everyday life that many people depend on to function. The media gives the public vital and timely information and facilitates opinions that people need. Like the events of 9/11 back in 2001. At that time, people looked upon the news to help them cope. Emile Durkheim, one of sociolgy sShow MoreRelatedTerrorism Is A Threat Of Terrorism1846 Words   |  8 Pagesbelieve all measures should be taken to stop this despicable act. Throughout research, I’ve discovered many factors relevant to the history, current, and future threat of terrorism, along with the different perspective groups of the functionalists, conflict theorists, and symbolic interactionists. While the threat of terrorism has increased greatly in the last decade or so, the challenge against coercion has been existent for ages in history. Since dynamite was invented in 1867, bizarre radicals haveRead MoreWar : What Is It Good For?1386 Words   |  6 Pagesmajor sociological perspectives have conflicting viewpoints about warfare. The three sociological perspectives provide different interpretations of war. The Structural Functionalists focus on how war unites different peoples as they must work together to survive, as well as how war in general protect the freedom of the masses. Conflict Theorists focus on how militarism runs the world, from creating war to create capital to eliminating population through war. Symbolic Interactionists prefer to focusRead MoreSociology and Answer2102 Words   |  9 Pages1. Sociological Perspective Sociology is defined as: | a. | the methodological analysis of groups and individuals. | | | b. | the scientific analysis of premodern people. | | | c. | the academic discipline that examines individual human behavior. | | | d. | the systematic study of human society and social interaction. | | | status:  not answered  ()   correct:  d   your answer:   | 2 | According to sociologist C. Wright Mills, the ability to see the relationship between individualRead MoreThe Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act1454 Words   |  6 Pagesterrorist attack in 2001, making most of the American public scared of future terrorist attacks increasing their negative thinking toward immigration. After that horrible day, the government started making changes to their immigration policies, therefore creating awareness of immigrants. These biased thoughts about immigration create concern and angst towards these groups, which lead to prejudices. The media also likes to use realistic threats toward the American people including realistic threats to one’s

Nato in Afghanistan free essay sample

NATO’s (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) continued presence in Afghanistan will continue to foster the development of democratization, human rights and development, while effectively eliminating the Taliban from the region. The rise of the Taliban occured when the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1979, during the Cold War. The Soviets came into Afghanistan looking to expand their Communist empire. As a result of this Communist expansion in Afghanistan, the USA decided to take counter action against the Soviets, their Cold War enemy, by funding an opposition party. This opposition, called the Mujahedeen, was a religious group with the objective to fight off the change in their cultural country. When the Mujahedeen (now known as the Taliban) drove the Soviets out of Afghanistan, there was the opportunity for a group to take power in the country since the former government had been brought down. As the Taliban had the money and power, they took the opportunity to take control in the country. The Soviet Invasion had made such horrific living conditions to live in, that Afghanistan was known to be the top migrating country at the time. There were 5-10 million Afghans that fled to Iran and Pakistan to seek refuge, with an outstanding 670,000 to 2 million killed. The largest city Kabul, went from a mid-large population of 200,000 people to less than 25,000 people- followed by a month-long campaign of carpet combing and bulldozing by the Soviets and Afghan communist soldiers in 1987. The horror did not just end after the Soviets fled. Today there are an estimated 10-15 million landmines left scattered across the country side, some of which are still active today. It is estimated to take 4,300 years to remove all the land mines that were placed during the Soviet Invasion in Afghanistan, leaving the country as a current dangerous battle zone. When the Soviets left Afghanistan in 1989, Afghanistan was in a very bad position. All that was left was an almost empty government system, an armed terrorist group with high power, and a lack of resource development. During the Taliban rule (from 1989), young Afghan women were shot for attending school, assaulted for not wearing a burqa, and spat on by the ruling class. Although the USA had funded the Taliban during the Soviet Invasion, the outbreak by the Taliban has resulted in NATO choosing to step forward to spread fair a democracy in a needing nation. The current mission that NATO has in Afghanistan is a guide and structure build for developing a strong secular government system- rather than what some Afghan Taliban may refer to it as, â€Å"a destruction of Afghan sovereignty. † The Taliban, or as they call themselves, â€Å"The Warriors and Protectors of Islam,† want to keep Afghanistan as a traditional and pure country with no outside influences such as NATO. Harsh punishments from the Taliban are more often set on Afghan citizens to create bigger scare and public awareness, showing they have no tolerance for broken set rules (their rules that they bring into extremity from the Quran). Having a westernized organization like NATO in Afghanistan upsets the Taliban and Al Qaeda. Although Al Qaeda and the Taliban are different groups, this is an occasion where Al Qaeda and the Taliban agreed to fight together. The Taliban originally did not accept the Arabian group Al Qaeda to set up a base in Afghanistan, but these two different groups both had a common agreement on the abolishment of westernized influences. During this war against the USA, former leader of Al Qaeda, Osama Bin Laden, allied with the Taliban for a Jihad, which according to author Gohari, means, â€Å"A holy war against the Americans who are occupying the land of the two shrines,† and states that a US war on his country, Saudi Arabia, would soon cause an alliance of Muslims to be a US war on Muslims all over the globe. Now, the war has parted into two sides: the USA as part of NATO, versus the Taliban and Al Qaeda. Now one may be wondering what exactly drives the Taliban to act as they do, and the reason is their perspective on religion (Islam). They control governance very similar to a right wing, fascist party. There is a huge reliance on using the religion of Islam to maintain control of society, frequently taken to the extremity, and often at the expense and contradiction of Islamic thought, theory and belief. The Taliban were the elites of Afghanistan before NATO came in and controlled governance, punishing those who choose to disobey their rules and ideologies. The Afghans lived under the Taliban rule in Afghanistan long before the Soviets even fled. It is important to note that the Taliban is an embodiment of a male Afghan mindset, a force that has extreme traditional and religious views. Thus, all individuals with these extreme views are essentially having the same viewpoints of the Taliban. To author Fereshta, â€Å"The Taliban rule is the reason my grandmother cannot read. She explains that the reason behind her grandmother’s illiteracy was the extreme traditional mindset from men several years ago, that affected the treatment of women. During the ruling, as a force, the Taliban were able to strip women of even their basic rights, beyond just their education. Some examples of rules the Taliban have in place (the Taliban still control some sections of Afghanistan) include; pun ishments for: women walking in the street without a blood relative, women speaking loudly in public allowing strangers to hear their voice, and even the presence of a woman in the media. Men as well have been punished. It was almost essential to be purely part of the Islamic faith or they would face consequences. The Taliban has harsh rules set on women in particular, reasoning some support this NATO mission to take out this strongly fascist-like force. This is why NATO’s mission in Afghanistan is to create a secular government- where religion does not in any way affect the laws and rules of its citizens, and in the process destroying Al Qaeda and the Taliban. Evidently, it is vital for NATO to stay in Afghanistan. Without NATO’s involvement, the Taliban would re-establish their power within the first 24 hours of NATO’s leave. It is important to understand that it isn’t the strength of the twenty thousand Taliban in Afghanistan that is the problem, but it is the extremely weak ninety thousand Afghanistan military set to effectively fight terrorism off. In order to permanently stop the Taliban ruling in Afghanistan, the members of NATO need to put in effective effort into the mission, rather than planning to pull out an simply fund money. It is much more beneficial for the country of Afghanistan to have a strong NATO leader with them to assist and fully physically train its military, rather than NATO partially assisting and only providing temporary services. The foreign policies for members of NATO should not be to withdraw troops and make plans to leave by 2014, but to be efficient by deploying experienced troops and commanders, allowing the Afghan military to be better trained. The Afghanistan military knows that NATO is there to train them, and if NATO decides  to start taking away troops, then all efforts already placed to the Afghan military will go to waste as Afghan military cannot yet sustain itself. Members of NATO must be active in Afghanistan and remain dedicated in order to fully build the developed future of Afghanistan. It is also suggested that NATO controls Afghan cities and roads connecting them, to reduce the number of coalition troops who are killed by road side bombs, making the mission more efficient. NATO also needs to work on the control of the opium exports from Afghanistan. About 60% of the world’s illegal opium imports come from Afghanistan, allowing the Taliban to tax local farmers on these exports, resulting in illegally attained money from the black market. With NATO’s mission in place, a structure of democracy is slowly being built. They are interning the economic structure of Afghanistan by the creation of a free market, a boost in the economy, a structure of authority, and a major incline in social qualities (freedom of press and religion). The International Security Assistance force (ISAF) is also a force working in Afghanistan which along with NATO has passed several stages of the mission. In fact, NATO has taken the Taliban out of power, significantly helped the country with its increase in national security, education and healthcare, and has also assisted with the increase in media and free press, rising to seventy five TV stations and one million internet users. By allowing the people of Afghanistan to have a democratic voice and opinion, they can prevent a small group such as the Taliban from ruling the streets again. NATO’s disrespectful behaviour has also been another issue in Afghanistan. Many of the Afghan people are not pleased with NATO’s conducts. It is argued by some that NATO’s conduct hogs land, blocks roads, allows them to mistreat prisoners, and causes the deaths of innocent civilians. However, dealing with civilians is not easy for NATO. Distinguishing who is an ally, and who is in an enemy is not easy when fighting an intelligent group like the Taliban, who employ guerrilla warfare. This results in blame towards NATO for having detrimental behavior, and mistreating innocent civilians thought to be in disguise. However, NATO’s justification is that there have been 50+ cases of troops being killed by who appeared to be their own colleagues disguised in Afghan Army clothing, but were actually secret Taliban members. NATO states that  there have been several casualties during this mission, a lot of which NATO blames civilians for not following conduct rules and disobeying them for their safety. However, Afghan people still do have a valid reason to disrespect NATO soldiers. It would upset any Afghan knowing troops have been taking pictures of themselves posing beside dead Taliban fighters, and hearing reports that talk about soldiers urinating on dead corpses. If NATO wants to successfully complete its mission, then they need its members and soldiers to fully commit to the cause without disorderly conduct. It is important for NATO members to stay in Afghanistan right now in order to fully complete their mission, rather than pulling out in 2014. Afghanistan is now governed by a democratic government, which still needs more development in national security in order to sustain itself. Having NATO stay a few years more will insure the Afghanistan military and government can maintain their position, resulting in a socially and economically developing country. It is not just western influences that NATO is trying to place in Afghanistan. NATO is there taking out the Mujahedeen to create a stable economy, a democratic government system and an end to the ‘Religious Fascism’ currently controlling Afghanistan. In our modern day society, for a country to be stable, they must develop those three factors; a stable economy, a secure democratic government system, and a society where citizens can make their own choices. Having an organization like NATO in Afghanistan, will allow them to develop in areas they need in order to be a successful country. Works Cited FERESHTA. The Globe and Mail.   The Globe and Mail. N. p. , n. d. Web. 02 Nov. 2012. lt;http://www. theglobeandmail. com/commentary/who-are-the-taliban/article4188069/gt;. Gilles, Dorronsoro. Who Are the Taliban? -Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.   Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. N. p. , 22 Oct. 2009. Web. 01 Nov. 2012. lt;http://www. carnegieendowment. org/2009/10/22/who-are-taliban/161gt;. Gohari, M. J. The Taliban: Ascent to Power. Karachi: Oxford UP, 2000. Print. Herda, D. J. The Afghan Rebels: The War in Afghanistan. New York: F. Watts, 1990. Print. NATO and Afghanistan Questions and Answers. NATO Public Diplomacy Division, n. d. Web. 23 Oct. 2012. lt;http://www. nato. int/nato_static/assets/pdf/pdf_publications/NATO_and_Afgh_LR_en. pdfgt;. NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan.   Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 11 Jan. 2012. Web. 24 Oct. 2012. lt;http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/NATO_Training_Mission-Afghanistangt;. Ruth, Fremson. Taliban.    The New York Times. N. p. , 02 Nov. 2012. Web. 02 Nov. 2012. lt;http://topics. nytimes. com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/t/taliban/index. htmlgt;. Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan (1979).   Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n. d. Web. 03 Nov. 2012. lt;http://www. britannica. com/EBchecked/topic/1499983/Soviet-invasion-of-Afghanistangt;. Usman, Sharifi. AFP: Two NATO Troops Killed in Afghan Insider Attack.   Google News. N. p. , n. d. Web. 29 Oct. 2012. lt;http://www. google. om/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5i8SCT8_4WAeAYPgTp71tdQGSc9jg? docId=CNG. 6d1f4bcbd63425ddcfc84f92f4377f7d. 71gt;. Two Arguments for What to Do in Afghanistan TIME. Breaking News, Analysis, Politics, Blogs, News Photos, Video, Tech Reviews TIME. com. N. p. , n. d. Web. 2 Jan. 2013. lt;http://www. time. com/time/magazine/arti [ 1 ]. Soviet war in Afghanistan† Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. [ 2 ]. Soviet war in Afghanistan† Wikipedia , the free encyclopedia. [ 3 ]. Soviet war in Afghanistan† Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 4 ]. D. J. Herda The Afghan Rebels: The War in Afghanistan. New York: F. Watts, 1990. P. 47-59. Print. [ 5 ]. Sami, Ron Moreau, Yousafzai. Afghanistans Taliban Wish Al Qaeda Would Go Away.   The Daily Beast. Newsweek/Daily Beast, 13 Aug. 2012. Web. 02 Jan. 2013. [ 6 ]. M. J Gohari, the Taliban: Ascent to Power. Karachi: Oxford UP, 2000. P. 73-81. Print. [ 7 ]. FERESHTA. Who are the Taliban  The Globe and Mail. N. p. , n. d. Web. 02 Nov. 2012. . [ 8 ]. Two Arguments for What to Do in Afghanistan TIME.   Breaking News, Analysis, Politics, Blogs, News