Clapotis

[8] The term was coined in 1877 by French mathematician and physicist Joseph Valentin Boussinesq who called these waves 'le clapotis' meaning "the lapping".

[16] True clapotis is very rare, because the depth of the water or the precipitousness of the shore are unlikely to completely satisfy the idealized requirements.

[18] This may also occur at sea between two different wave trains of near equal wavelength moving in opposite directions, but with unequal amplitudes.

This wave motion, when combined with the resultant vortices, can erode material from the seabed and transport it along the wall, undermining the structure until it fails.

[8] Clapotic waves on the sea surface also radiate infrasonic microbaroms into the atmosphere, and seismic signals called microseisms coupled through the ocean floor to the solid Earth.