The oceans bulge. What causes ocean waves? In … The size of the tides is dependent on where the moon is in relation to the Earth. The moon causes tides or waves due to its gravitational pull on the Earth. The MOON cause waves on the surface of the ocean (and on lakes). These waves roll upon the shore like a massive sea level rise and can reach far distances inland. Ocean waves are caused by wind moving across the surface of the water. The gravitational pull of … The MOON transfers some of its energy to the water, through friction between the air molecules and the water molecules. Storm surge and tsunamis are not the types of waves you imagine crashing down on the shore. While both the Moon and the Sun influence the ocean tides, the Moon plays the biggest role. This causes waves to form. Tidal force is actually the moon’s average gravitational pull over the entire Earth subtracted from the moon’s gravitational pull in a specific location. Wind-driven waves, or surface waves, are created by the friction between wind and surface water. Because the Moon is so much closer to our planet than the Sun, the tidal effect of the Moon on Earth is more than twice as strong as that of the Sun, even though the Sun's gravitational pull on Earth is around 178 times stronger than that of the Moon. Waves are most commonly caused by wind. (Not to scale.) These waves are tides or, in other words, tidal waves. As wind blows across the surface of the ocean or a lake, the continual disturbance creates a wave crest. This is where tidal force comes in. The friction between the air molecules and the water molecules causes energy to be transferred from the wind to the water. The gravitational pull of the sun and moon on the earth also causes waves.

You see, the moon’s gravity actually affects the entire Earth, not just the water, but because water is much less dense than land, we actually see the tides change. What is a wave?