Describe how a wave breaks on the shore as it transitions from a deep-water wave to a shallow-water wave.

As wind waves enter shallow waters and approach the shore, they break. As a wave breaks on shore all of the energy and order is dissipated. The surf zone is that area of the coast that lies between the region where the waves are breaking and the shore. As a wave moves towards shore it is carried over water that gets shallow. When the wave reaches water that has a depth half its wavelength, the wave feels the bottom. The bottom slows the speed of the wave so the wavelength decreases and the height increases, but the period remains the same. When the wave becomes too high for the wavelength (a ratio of 1:7), which occurs when the ratio of water depth to the wave height is about 4:3, the wave breaks.