What is fetch in geography

The energy of the swash and backwash determine the type of wave. The characteristics of a destructive wave are:. The characteristics of a constructive wave are:. Wave types - constructive and destructive When the wind blows over the sea, it creates waves. So, what determines how long the wind can blow, uninterrupted, over a body of water? The answer is very simple - it's the length of the water between one obstacle and the next one. That length of open water over which the wind can blow unobstructed is called the Fetch.

For a bowl of soup it would be one edge of the bowl to the other, for a lake it's one shore to the opposite one, and for a sea or ocean it's exactly the same idea, but obviously with greater distances. A very short fetch, like the soup bowl or the width of a small lake just isn't long enough for the amount of energy needed to make big waves to be transferred to the water.

You don't get 10m high waves on a 50m wide lake, regardless of how deep it may be! Where you have a much larger lake, such as the North American Great Lakes, the large African lakes, and various inland seas, the much longer fetch allows larger and more powerful waves to be created. It is very important to remember that fetch is the maximum length of open water over which the wind can blow unobstructed.

The fetch is related to the orbit of the wave. Wikimedia Foundation. Geography of Toronto — Toronto s skyline from its harbour The city of Toronto, Canada, covers an area of km2 sq mi and is bounded by Lake Ontario to the south, Etobicoke Creek and Highway to the west, Steeles Avenue to the north, and the… … Wikipedia. Coastal geography — is the study of the dynamic interface between the ocean and the land, incorporating both the physical geography i.

It involves an… … Wikipedia. Channel geography — This article is about a geographical feature. For other uses, see channel. Wooden pilings mark the navigable channel for vessels entering Lake George from the St. Johns River in Florida … Wikipedia. Wind wave — Ocean wave redirects here.