What part of the water does the wind most affect?How are waves measured?

Question

What creates a wave to slow down before it hits the shore?Why do rivers curve?When does a wave change?

Answer 1

Wind affects the surface of the water.
Waves are measured according to their height, their wavelength (trough to trough or crest to crest) and frequency.
Waves slow down when the approach the shore because the depth of the water changes. When the depth is less than 2 x the height, it begins to drag on the wave.

Rivers originally curve because they meet obstacles, things with different rates of erosion. If there is a boulder in the way, the water will sweep away soil rather than the boulder.

Once there is a curve, the water moves faster along the outside of the curve then on the inside, and wears away that side faster, and so tends to move toward the curve. This is called meandering.

Waves change when they meet an obstacle or when the depth changes or when they meet another wind or when they meet a current.