Does wind really cause waves?
David Dedeca is correct: it takes time for waves to build up. Initially, when the surface of the sea is flat, the horizontal movement of the wind can only transfer energy to the uppermost layer of molecules of the sea as it blows across the water. It is only after enough energy has been transferred to the waves that there is a vertical component to them – a vertical component that the wind can blow against and not just across – that the energy transfer can begin to accelerate. It Is a process that does take time. Once the waves have begun, however, it takes much less wind to maintain their energy, since the vertical faces of the waves can easily ‘catch’ the kinetic energy of any wind that is still around.
