AQA GCSE Geography · 8035
Specification 3.1.3.2 · Paper 1
Revise: Wave Types and Coastal ProcessesWaves generally become larger when the wind is stronger, blows for longer or blows across a greater fetch — a longer distance of open water.
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GCSE Geography · key term
The distance over open water across which wind blows to generate waves.
Used by AQA and Edexcel
Specification 3.1.3.2 · Paper 1
Revise: Wave Types and Coastal ProcessesWaves generally become larger when the wind is stronger, blows for longer or blows across a greater fetch — a longer distance of open water.
Specification 1.3 · Paper 1
The distance over water across which wind blows to generate waves.
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Stronger winds, winds blowing for longer and a longer fetch — the distance the wind blows across water — can produce larger, more powerful waves. As waves enter shallow water, interaction with the seabed slows them and they eventually break. Water running up the beach is swash; water returning down it under gravity is backwash.
Paper 2
The distance across open water over which a wind blows to generate waves.
Revise: Marine and Sub-aerial Coastal ProcessesWave size depends on three connected factors: wind strength, how long the wind blows and the fetch, which is the distance over open water that the wind travels. Strong winds blowing for a long time over a long fetch can produce large, powerful waves.