Breakers
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The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.
Breakers
the phenomenon of ocean waves breaking some distance from the shore (as opposed to surf, which results from waves breaking directly on the shore). Breakers usually form over underwater waves, reefs, or sandbars. There are “plunging” breakers (formed as a result of the full breaking of a wave) and “sliding” breakers (formed as a result of the partial breaking of a wave). The initial breaking of a wave is also called a sliding breaker. If there is strong turbulence on a gently sloping shore, a wave can break more than once, becoming a smaller wave each time.
REFERENCE
Longinov, V. V. Dinamika beregovoi zony besprilivnykh morei. Moscow, 1963.O. K. LEONT’EV
The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.